In his weekly video blog, Finance Minister Prof. Edward Scicluna discusses the upcoming 2015 Budget and some of the more important dates along its preparation calendar.

Prof. Scicluna explains that in the run up to the 2015 Budget, the Maltese Government is required to submit to the European Commission two documents which represent the core of the Government’s budget direction.

The Finance Minister explains that over the past few days, the Finance Ministry has been working on preparing and submitting the first of these documents, namely the National Reform Programme (NRP).

He explains that the NRP document is a document that outlines the Government’s main reforms as these represent significant changes and improvements across those areas which embody the biggest challenges being faced by the country.

Prof. Scicluna notes that these include issues such as youth employment, female employment, health, education, and also social spending. He further adds that these are considered and presented in the document within the context of the Commission’s own medium-term and long-term 2020 targets for European Member States.

Prof. Scicluna also explains how the first section of the NRP delivers an overview of the current state of the Maltese economy, which is considerably better than it was a year ago, and has quadrupled its rate of economic growth.

– Wednesday, 16th April, 2014