Tonio Fenech, Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment, said that the Budget for this year would be one that is financially sustainable but also providing incentives for growth and investment.

Speaking at the end of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) meeting, Dr Fenech said that the Advisory Council had until the end of the month to submit their ideas about the Budget.

He spoke about the fact that Malta is officially out of the recession, saying that the country needed to keep moving in this direction, with different sectors of industry seeing growth and investment.

He also said that Government remained committed to fulfilling its originally established deficit aims, even though it was difficult and challenging .

"While unemployment rises in Europe, we remained the country with the fifth least number of unemployed persons, well below the EU average, and this did not just occur as a happy coincidence, but through hard work and sustainable planning."

"It is in Malta's best interests to reduce the deficit in a sustainable way, in order to sustain our international reputation as a safe, profitable place for investment. It would reflect badly on the whole country and impact potential investment if Government were to backtrack and set different aims now."