Half the population think government should prioritise reviewing wages when it announces 2023 budget measures later on Monday, according to a public perception survey.

Controlling food prices and property prices and the revision of tax bands should also be prioritised, according to the survey.

And 42% said they want to see the government better control public spending and prioritise the environment.

These indicators emerged from the 2023 Malta Budget Public Perception Survey, presented by Malta Survey, to identify the public needs and sentiments prior to the budget being presented by the government. Malta Survey is a project by consultancy firm IDEA Group. 

The online survey was carried out between October 4 and 16.  The sample consisted of 1,611 participants, between the ages of 18 and 50, composed of 60.5% females and 38.4% males. 1.1% opted not to disclose their gender.

The sampled cohort can be described as being average to above average income earners making between €20,000 to €40,000 a year, with post-secondary level education. The majority of participants claimed four categoric roles, including managerial, professional as well as skilled and clerical.

Improved salaries 

Participants were asked to prioritise three areas of major concern that they would like government to address from the following list:

• review of wage structures;
• review of the rent situation;
• review of property prices;
• control of food prices;
• control on medicinal prices;
• lowering of tax bands;  
• review of social benefits;
• review of subsidies given to families;
• review of subsidies given to businesses;
• and more one-time bonuses.

Areas of concern to be addressed in Budget 2023. IMAGE: Malta Survey

Just over half of all respondents - 51.4% - listed 'review wages' as their first area of priority. 

This was followed by ‘control cost of food prices’ with almost 19% picking it as the first priority and almost 32% as the second priority, and ‘control of property prices’ and ‘revision of tax bands’ with 10% selecting them as first priority.

Control government spending

This survey also gave participants the chance have their say about how they believe the government should control the budget deficit.

Participants were asked to prioritise from the following:

• rationalise social benefits by developing tighter means-testing;
• control the spending of government agencies;  
• gradually reduce the number of employees in the public sector;
• rationalise assistance given to businesses;
• and reduce the spending on national projects

Deficit control measure priorities. IMAGE: Malta Survey

“The general perception of the surveyed population shows that there is a concern about the way government is using public funds through annual subventions given to different public entities, with almost 42% as the priority,” the survey found. 

This was followed by ‘tighter controls on means testing’ with a value of 27% as the first preference, and 'reduction of public sector employees' (14.3%).

“Indirectly one can argue that this calls for better governance and accountability,” the survey noted.

Prioritise the environment

The third and final priority-based question gave respondents the option of selecting the sectors they believe will receive most attention in Budget 2023.

Participants could choose from the following options:

• health
• education
• social services
• research, development and innovation
• employment
• infrastructure
• environment.

Most important sectors to be addressed. IMAGE: Malta Survey

The environment took the lion's share of first priority votes (33.5%), with a substantial gap between itself and the next popular first priority choice, the health sector (24.4%).

The sector holding the smallest portions throughout the options is the research, development and innovation sector.

Participants were also quizzed as to whether they believed the 2023 Budget measures would address their needs. They could reply along a five-point scale ranging from 'Strongly Agree' to 'Strongly Disagree'.

The majority sentiment was that of uncertainty ('Don’t Know') with a portion of 33.5% of the sample.