Malta’s Government spent around €900 million on COVID-related expenditure in 2020, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said in Parliament on Tuesday.
As a result, the deficit for 2020 is projected to be greater than the 9.4 per cent (€1.22 billion) initially calculated in the Budget 2021 announcement last October.
Dr Caruana highlighted that such calculations are provisional. He added that while the Government is committed to safeguarding the workforce and the broader economy, deficit projections may need to be revised over the coming weeks and months.
In its latest Economic Update, the Central Bank of Malta projected that the Government will record a deficit of 9.5 per cent of GDP in 2020, persisting throughout 2021, although it is anticipated to narrow to 6.6 per cent.
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