Pre-budget questions

Some suggested questions for Finance Minister Clyde Caruana ahead of the upcoming pre-budget debate.

1. Does it worry you, and/or the government, that Malta’s national debt has exploded at an extraordinary rate over the past three years?

This irrespective of: its prima facie still standing below the Maastricht-prescribed 60 per cent of GDP levels, and/or, far too many of this country’s personal, corporate citizens and/or several government entities being up to their necks in debt?

2. Plain yes or no; does the government accept that a different economic model has to be put into train to squeeze out the many current failures of the present one, which is clearly overbalanced and dependent towards the building and construction industry, tourism and imported labour? 

A related purely political element here is the matter of whether the government has sufficient time left to implement such a new economic model, before the next national general elections are due.

Clyde Caruana stressing a point during the budget speech. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

3. To what extent does the European Union (of which Malta is a member state): 

(a) Seek to have advance knowledge of what is being planned for inclusion in every Malta annual national budget?

(b) Make its own impositions for changes, additions, removals from the budget intended to be presented to Malta’s parliament?

(c) Impose some sort of timeline for this process?

(d) If it exists, is such a timeline consistent or changing?

4. If the EU continues to insist on given (its) policy positions on certain matters – like that energy subsidies should be withdrawn and/or reviewed – and the government continues to stand, and act, totally in difference to such an EU position, what and where will this work up to an impasse?

Does it, for example, mean that the government can continue to ignore the EU up to any time when, with the Malta government going its ‘own way’ and this continuing to working (badly) into the annual deficit and national debt realities, then the EU will be free and empowered to impose its excessive deficit procedures, with grave austerity implications on the government and the people of Malta?

In short, where and when will the camel’s back break?

John Consiglio – Birkirkara