A Budget right for the time, says Tonio Borg
Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg said that in the international circumstances this was a balanced budget with the right measures for the time. Malta had not been badly hit in the banking or financial sectors, but it had indeed been badly hit as a...
Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg said that in the international circumstances this was a balanced budget with the right measures for the time. Malta had not been badly hit in the banking or financial sectors, but it had indeed been badly hit as a country with an export-oriented economy.
A comparison with the troubles of other countries, even EU members, and the measures they had taken was very much to the point in order to put the situation in proper perspective.
Whatever the government would have done, the opposition would still have criticised it, even though the national deficit had increased by just one percentage point.
After three consecutive years of widened income tax bands the opposition had criticised the government for not having widened them for this year. It had conveniently overlooked such new features as the tax credits for SMEs, micro-credits and increased allocations for tourism which had fared less badly than in other countries.
Dr Borg said flights to Malta from Syria and Israel were now expected to start in summer.
More funds had been allocated to the ETC, which would cover a new scheme to allow 500 persons registering for work to be occupied for 12 weeks, and another scheme for training unemployed youths. There were incentives for women who put their children into childcare and employers who opened up such facilities for their employees.
The Budget also featured compensation to all families for increased utility tariffs.
There was a record allocation for education, up €16 million to €270 million, from kindergarten to post-secondary education. There was also a marked increase in financial aid to Church schools.
The government was doing all this because it strongly believed in the link between education and employment opportunity.
Minister Borg said the Budget also featured discretion for the Comptroller of Customs to impose fines for evasion of excise duty. The discretion would be dropped if the evasion cost the country more than €1,000.
The House stands adjourned for March 1st.