Malta is now living the success of five years of economic and social policies coming to fruition. Successes which have been achieved due to the hard work and dedication of the current government. But I am not trying to paint a perfect picture, actions do the proving and speak louder than words.
Compiling a Budget is about devising a plan. A firm and decisive plan aimed at both building on past achievements, reforming areas where necessary, and creating new stimulating measures to ensure the economy continues giving a helping hand to those who need it the most.
To continue improving all citizens’ quality of life, especially by upgrading services in line with the country’s needs - needs that change on a daily basis.
To get to the successful situation we are in today, the current Labour administration had to start from scratch when it returned to power in 2013. In order to create the right incentives, measures and social benefits, the government needed positive statistics which were lacking.
The economy wasn’t registering a surplus, but a deficit. The minimal economic growth registered was tempered by the enormity of public debt – a debt that the European Commission had told the previous Nationalist government to tackle by reducing expenditure by €40 million, because it was affecting the health and educational sectors. But it neglected to achieve that.
In fact, the political arguments surrounding the Budget before Labour’s election in 2013 were not on the amount that pensioners should receive, but about the amount of tax the government should collect in order to service the public debt. And let’s not forget the hefty pay rise the Nationalist Cabinet awarded itself while the Maltese people were lumbered higher utility bills.
This is the new Malta: a country which is tangibly delivering its successes to help those who need it most
Bills which were negatively affecting the population’s standard of living, as many struggled to pay.
I do not want to give the impression that everything began after 2013, and nothing good happened prior to that date, that is not the case at all. But rather to point out the biggest difference between pre-2013 and now: Malta’s economy has been awarded one budget after another which distributes wealth into the pockets of those who need it most, while incentivising investors to create jobs and opportunities.
People today can see this difference clearly. In fact, due to the population’s trust in the economic stability of their country, they take a positive Budget for granted. As if it was normal to have a second consecutive Budget since Joseph Muscat’s government’s re-election without additional taxes, a third consecutive Budget running on a surplus, a fourth giving an increase in pensions, and the seventh-in-a-row with lower income tax rates.
The healthy state our economy is in has permitted an increase in children’s allowance - the first in over 11 years. Another day of vacation leave was added, to compensate for past decisions by the previous Nationalist administration to remove a day of leave when a public holiday fell on a weekend. Further increases in pensions, student stipends, and disability benefits were also announced.
If it was not for a hard-working government and population, it could not even consider further positive measures. But because of this collective effort, the government has also been able to remove Matsec examination fees and ex-gratia payments for those who have paid a tax over above their registration tax. Plus, it allocated the first €100 million – out of a total of €700 million - to upgrade our roads, something desperately needed after being left to deteriorate.
If it wasn’t for the current positive economic situation, the government would not have been able to add Budget measures to tackle the rents issue through many measures, including offering further benefits and an innovative equity share scheme to the over-40s.
Today we are not just living the success of the past five years, we are also in a situation in which we can plan ahead. We can think for tomorrow. It was hard work getting here, but worth it. Because, this is the new Malta: a country which is tangibly delivering its successes to help those who need it most, to those who need the courage to start a business, to the Gozitans, the middle class, and to all Maltese.
Nigel Vella is a government spokesman.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece