“Nobody with a job will lose a cent”.
“We won't add fear of bankruptcy and unemployment to the health crisis”.
How I wish I heard Robert Abela utter these words.
No. These remarks were made by French President Emmanuel Macron and his Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, just a few days ago in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Simple, yet strong words. Now, I have no doubt that jobs will be lost in France, but such a commitment, backed by a €345 billion package targeted to all businesses, from the largest corporates to the smallest micro enterprises shows the country is truly taking this seriously.
Yet in Malta, even in such delicate times, the government seems to have given up already. In his message when announcing economic support measures, Prime Minister Robert Abela, besides the PR stunt, came up with very little tangible support for our businesses and workers. I have no doubt that the prime minister is genuine in addressing this economic crisis, but his government is showing that it has no clue how to do this.
Despite the glamorous numbers bandied around by the government (€1.8 billion) really and truly, this is an inflated figure which will not save jobs at this present time. A large chunk of this allocation does not consist of direct financial aid, with €700 million in tax deferrals and €900 million in loan guarantees. With regard to the former, it’s a question of paying tomorrow that which is due today, that is – in case you’re making any money. Hospitality enterprises, restaurants and the like whose businesses came to a stall, won’t see any benefit here, and they will hardly be considering investment at this point in time.
This is not the time for PR stunts. It’s time to come together such that we may emerge even stronger together
This means that the real support to employers and employees is a meagre €175 million, covering, at best a mere subsidy of 20 per cent of the employee’s salary – at minimum wage levels. Compare, for example, this to the UK, having announced that it will pay 80 per cent of salary for staff, covering wages of up to £2,500 a month. Denmark, to look at a smaller country, will be covering 75 per cent. As an opposition, we have suggested 50 per cent coverage of a salary to be determined by our social partners and unions.
The unfortunate irony of the situation is that while the government regularly boasts that salaries in Malta average €20,000 a year, suddenly it establishes its assistance on a €9,600 yearly-pay. This is symptomatic of a government which is totally detached from the reality of entrepreneurs and employees. The civil authorities may be doing a wonderful job with regard to the health situation amid such big challenges, in particular Charmaine Gauci and her team, but unfortunately, the political executive seems to have no clue of the real issues businesses are going through.
The fact that the government is not ready to cover quarantine in full simply shows that while the-so called socialist government found it easy to pay millions towards corrupt deals, namely Electrogas and Vitals, it is being stingy with the workers. To put things in perspective, while the government has allocated €35 million at the disposal of the health authorities to fight the coronavirus, Steward Healthcare (former Vitals) will be getting €20 million this year! While Electrogas got a guarantee of €360 million, our genuine businesses who have been here come rain or shine will only get a guarantee of only up to 20 per cent of their loans.
The government has no real Plan B for the economy. After building the economy purely on the importation of foreign workers, it now tells them to go back to their country. When it realised this rhetoric was a mistake, it performed a U-turn. It is unacceptable in a modern country that a government puts its people against each other. This is the last thing politicians should be doing in times like these.
It proves that the opposition was right when criticising the current economic model, which is built on getting more and more foreign workers here, driving the Maltese public to take out loans and buy property to rent it to these foreigners. With foreigners being pushed out of the country, the locals will find it hard to keep renting at today’s prices, therefore suffering the consequences of government’s ill-thought and short-sighted policies. This will eventually impact the wider financial sector.
Of all the reactions to the government’s so-called economic package, the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Employers Association hit the nail on the head: this country needed a war budget and ended up with a mini budget. The government has only served to add to uncertainty. We have already listed clear proposals to support every sector in the economy, to safeguard jobs and the quality of life of our families.
At a minimum, government should reduce electricity tariffs rather than profiteering on Maltese businesses and families – there should be no excuse here: oil and gas prices have gone down significantly since the onset of the crisis, but Abela insists on keeping current prices.
The government should get back to the drawing board immediately. The opposition is ready to help. We are speaking continuously with businesses and employers hit hard by the crisis. We are putting politics aside. This is my appeal to government. This is not the time for PR stunts. It’s time to come together such that we may emerge even stronger together.
Ryan Callus is a Nationalist MP