Speaking during a pre budget meeting earlier today, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said he believes that Malta risks an “economic catastrophe” if energy subsidies were to be removed, as he revealed the country is on track to spend more on subsidies this year than it did at the height of the Ukraine war.

The finance minister also noted that the government deficit is expected to tick upwards this year, reversing a previous forecast that predicted a continued reduction in the deficit.

In a Facebook post, he said that the government will continue to do what it was doing,
in the context that families will continue to be protected from price hikes in water and electricity by means of subsidies.