Minister wants new formula for government assistance to low-income people

The time had come for Malta to move to a new mechanism where the government helps those with a low income affected by particular circumstances such as the pandemic, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said on Tuesday. Speaking at a pre-budget consultation meeting, he said the social partners had often called for a revision of the COLA Cost Of Living Adjustment mechanism. Reaching agreement between the government, employers and trade unions on such a revision was difficult, he said. Furthermore, while employers had a duty to give a fair wage to their employees, one could not expect them to coverprice increases in such circumstances. To impose such a burden on them would lead to a further rise in prices, or people losing their jobs.  Therefore in the Budget speech on Monday he would speak about a new mechanism, a new formula that should come into force when inflation rises in a way which affects many people. The compensation, given by the government would then be addressed to those who had the lowest income.  This, Caruana stressed, would not be compensation for everyone. Some people were well off, but others were not, and social justice demanded that it should be the weaker members...