The 2008 Pre-Budget Consultation Document entitled Families Growing Stronger was launched on Saturday morning by the Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. This is the third time that the Government has launched a pre-budget document.

The key measures within the document which are to be discussed are the revision in the children allowance and the full Cost of Living Allowance to pensioners. The interests’ subsidies on house loans and tax credits to the self-employed are also main points together with the pharmacy-of-your choice scheme.

The document lays out points of discussion over the vision, politics, strategy and measures that thousands of Maltese and Gozitans have put forward during the first phase of preparation for the next budget. The document presents for discussion around 200 proposals on how the consultation process can continue to materialize in tangible measures in the next budget, Dr Gonzi said.

The Prime Minister thanked the public for its full participation in a series of dialogues at Castille and all those who put forward their proposals and suggestions.

He added that Families Growing Stronger is the fruit of a series of dialogues where over a thousand people took part in and over 6,000 correspondences in relation to this year’s budget. Furthermore the document made use of a survey carried out by the National Statistics Office with over 800 persons, proposals from around fifty different organisations, departments and all Government agencies.

Hundreds of mails by private individuals were received directly by the Prime Minister or his Parliamentary Secretary Mr Tonio Fenech; proposals by private companies and a detailed analyses of the local, European and worldwide economic stance also helped in the formulation of the document including also a detailed analysis of proposals collected for over a year on how the European Union funds ought to be spent.

“This is a document that was drawn up by the people for the people, by the Maltese families for the Maltese Families”, Dr Gonzi concluded.

The discussion over the pre-budget document will continue in the coming weeks.

The document Families Growing Stronger can be obtained from the Government’s Department of Information (DOI) or by downloading it from the DOI website www.doi.gov.mt.