37,000 households to benefit from second COLA for pensioners and vulnerable groups

Around 37,000 households will benefit from a second cost of living adjustment mechanism, according to Finance Minister Clyde Caruana.

During a press conference on Monday, Caruana emphasised that the mechanism aims to target pensioners, people on social benefits, and other vulnerable groups. He said unions spent years trying to lobby for a new mechanism to alleviate the burden on such households. 

When asked for more details on how the mechanism will work, Caruana said he will give a proper explanation during next week’s Budget speech for 2023. 

This new COLA mechanism, which is over and above the existing structure, was promised in the last budget and will start being implemented from the next budget.

He stressed that the new mechanism targets vulnerable groups, but the aim is not to disincentivise people from working. “We need to make sure that it always makes more sense to work.”

Air Malta

Caruana said that 350 people working at Air Malta applied to receive an early retirement sum, but the exact sum each worker will receive still needs to be calculated to make sure no mistakes are made.

Meanwhile, he said that some of the airline’s workers are receiving a salary without showing up to work. Caruana explained that these workers are those who rejected the early retirement sum and opted for a voluntary employee transfer scheme. 

He added that discussions with the European Union are still underway to determine the future of the struggling airline. 

77% of Budget measures implemented

Caruana was joined by Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana to give an overview of the public service’s work in implementing last year’s planned Budget measures. 

Sultana said that 324 measures were implemented this year. Most of the measures were from last year’s Budget, but some were carried over from previous years due to overlapping. 

Overall, the public service achieved a 77% implementation rate. Sultana pointed out that this was four percentage points higher than the seven-year average, despite it being an election year with movements in portfolios and units. 

Caruana added that, despite poor global economic conditions, Malta’s economy is still set to grow next year, “and not by a little bit”.

He said that his ministry has been chasing its counterparts to make sure that public finances are being spent wisely. “We can be wise in the use of public finances, while still meeting people’s expectations.”