Abela’s biggest ever Maltese Cabinet comes with €1.5 million annual wage bill

Robert Abela’s new cabinet, whose 26 members make it the biggest ever in Maltese political history, comes with an annual wage bill of just under €1.5 million.

The new Prime Minister announced his cabinet yesterday – it is made up of 18 Ministers (including the PM) and 8 Parliamentary Secretaries. A number of old faces are gone, and younger MPs have been given important roles in Abela’s government.

According to the Cabinet salaries as published by the government late last year, the Prime Minister earns a total of €63,144. This includes a salary of €56,880 (125% of salary scale 1), as well as an additional allowance of €5,823 and a cash allowance of €441.

Ministers earn a salary of €50,055 (110% of salary scale 1), plus an additional allowance of €5,823 and a cash allowance of €388, for a total income of €56,266.

Parliamentary Secretaries have a salary of €47,780 (105% of salary scale 1), an additional allowance of €5,823 and a cash allowance of €370, for a total income of €53,974.

The amount is based on 2019 figures, and the real figure is set to be slightly higher as ministerial salaries have increased by an average of €1,000 a year since 2008.

These figures do not include any cabinet legal advisors, a position that Abela himself held in Muscat’s Cabinet, together with former Deputy PM Louis Grech.

At this stage it is difficult to calculate the total cost of the ministries, since the number of people in the private secretariats varies from one ministry to another. The number is, however, set to increase with the additional two ministries.

The previous Cabinet (2017, Muscat) had 23 members. Muscat’s 2013 Cabinet was made up of 24 members. By comparison, Lawrence Gonzi’s 2008 Cabinet was only made up of 15 people, a decision that was criticised when it became apparent that many ministries were overburdened.