In a world embroiled in a growing wave of tension and turmoil, the benefit-packed Budget 2023 offered both buoyancy and a strong confidence in the future.
Based on a platform of such fundamental principles as justice, fairness and equality, it also provides a springboard to better things, more achievements and a commitment to keeping the economy booming.
World crises occur at pretty regular times, past and present, but Budget 2023, with its far-reaching proposals, is in sharp contrast to what the Maltese people had to go through in 2007/8 during the global financial crisis when austerity was the rule, inspired by conservative governments and then European leaders conglomerating in Brussels.
We are witnessing a situation where, while European governments are again bolstering their plans to cut social spending and introduce new taxes, the Maltese people are fortunate enough to be in a position where they can plan for the future not only without any new tax burdens but also thanks to increases in salaries and pensions, specific grants and support schemes.
There are various important proposals for the disabled, voluntary and consumer sectors, all of which were promised in our electoral manifesto.
The list is impressive: disability – parents who serve as carers to disabled children will get a grant increase from €500 to €4,500 annually; €4.2 million to provide personal assistance to disabled persons; an annual €200 tax credit for every disabled child in the family; 20 per cent subsidy for the purchase of new vehicles or second-hand ones for wheelchair-bound persons; and a 10 per cent subsidy for the purchase of modified second-hand cars.
In the next few weeks, two major banks will be joining the New Hope Guarantee scheme as we continue to negotiate with other possible participants. The means test for persons with disabilities to obtain subsidies is being eliminated while those who suffer from the coeliac condition will get an increase of €20 to the €45 monthly they already get.
The budget offers buoyancy and a strong confidence in the future- Julia Farrugia Portelli
Add to these the provision of medicines to persons suffering from multiple sclerosis and the centralisation of all CDAU and CYPS services in one state-of-the-art centre and a massive increase from €9.90 weekly to €174.80 weekly for persons suffering from severe disability. Other such increases cover assistance in cases of severe disability assistance (from €6.60 to €116.12 weekly) and disability assistance (from €6.60 to €90.59 weekly).
From within the one-stop-shop, the voluntary sector will continue to be sustained with services and support in their sterling everyday work while the consumer sector will not only see the strengthening of consumer rights but, as promised in the electoral manifesto, also an increase to €5,000 in the maximum amount it can claim before the tribunal.
Budget 2023 is, indeed, a manifestation of all that has been accomplished since the change of government in 2013, confirmed last March with the Labour government’s historic win in the election. It is yet another Labour budget that introduces no new taxes but still finds the economic acumen to make up for the impact from the pandemic, inflation, the cost of living and soaring prices as a result of the sad war taking place in Ukraine.
As winter approaches, the current energy crisis haunting Europe is a tangible example of how Malta has been quick and prepared to tackle its inevitable bearing on prices and supplies.
In their protracted negotiations, European leaders recently finally agreed to lower energy prices, to guarantee the supply of energy and to continue decreasing dependence on Russian energy supplies. The prime minister rightly said on his return from Brussels that this was precisely a reflection of the provisions made by the Maltese government over recent months.
Since the start of the pandemic and the outset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, the government has taken more strategic decisions than other European Union member states to help sustain stable energy prices, a fact that did not go unnoticed in Brussels.
This strategy of certainty and stability that provides peace of mind is the fulcrum of Budget 2023. It is founded on four important objectives that should lead to an even brighter future: economic stability, social stability, good governance and political stability.
Julia Farrugia Portelli is Minister for Inclusion and Social Well-being.