I rise today to deliver my first Budget address. It is with great honour that I do so, and I take this opportunity to once again thank the people of Gibraltar for this great privilege. As I rise, I look around and see four women MPs in this Parliament. While this represents progress in representation from the past, our Parliament still ranks below global and, most certainly, European averages in terms of representing women and minorities.
Below follows Minister Christian Santos' 2024 Budget Address:
Madam Speaker,
As Minister for Equality, Employment, Culture, Tourism as well as Training and Youth, I address you today with a deep sense of purpose and a deep sense of commitment.
Through the prism of the array of portfolios under my care, I am reminded daily of how our society is interconnected and of the boundless potential that lies within each of us.
The Gibraltar Heritage Trust says it is “very surprised” at the announcement made by Minister Arias Vasquez in Parliament of the relocation of the Government’s Mental Health Services to the old Printing Works in the vicinity of the Gibraltar Garrison Library.
The Chamber of Commerce has said that the headline growth in the economy announced in the budget “belies the fact that there are a number of sectors that are still recovering from the pandemic and are trading well below pre-pandemic levels.”
