The government is expecting to make €40 million less from passport sales next year, forecasting a drop in profits of two thirds over just two years. The forecast forms part of the latest financial estimates that were published on Monday evening along with Budget 2023. They show that the island cashed in some €61 million from the Individual Investor Programme in 2021. Since renamed Granting of Citizenship for Exceptional Services, the golden passports scheme is expected to make €30 million by the close of this year. This is expected to drop even further down to €20 million next year. Government sources said a contributing factor to the drop in revenue may be a tweak in the way profits from the scheme are managed by government’s bookkeepers. They said that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a larger portion of the passport funds were directed to Malta’s consolidated fund to allow them to be used to fight the impact of the viral outbreak. It is unclear if this had any bearing on the dip in projected profits, however. Meanwhile, other senior government sources said it stands to reason that the profits would be down because the scheme is “dying”. Malta’s lucrative golden passports...
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