Budget 2020

Budget day is round the corner.

It is appropriate to see how on 4 November 2013 l-orizzont hailed the first Labour budget which was being presented by Joseph Muscat’s Labour on that day. L-orizzont commented editorially: “After many years of the worst degradation in the way of living of the majority of the Maltese population, today is the official and most expected day which we believe shall open all windows and doors for prosperity and national wealth instead of for the chosen few.”

Notwithstanding Labour’s battlecry of Malta tagħna lkoll so much acclaimed by l-orizzont, “the worst degradation in the way of living” and “the chosen few” referred to by l-orizzont started 79 months ago under Muscat’s Labour.

Degradation in the way of living

Under Labour, the way of living of the Maltese, particularly those on a low income and the pensioners, is deteriorating. Thousands are facing poverty whilst others are moving in that direction. When presenting his Budget 2020 to Cabinet, the Minister for Finance said that 19 per cent of the population (approximately 84,000) are facing poverty risk. Poverty threatens fundamental human rights. According to social justice, prosperity should be enjoyed by everybody and not by the few, or,worse, the chosen few.

Muscat’s government did not open all windows and doors for everybody as falsely predicted by l-orizzont. In fact, we are encountering a degradation in the way of living. In the last six years of the PN administration, the cost of living allowance given was €19.80 weekly whilst during the first six years of Labour this was €13.65 weekly. In 1997 during Alfred Sant’s administration Dom Mintoff was prophetic when he declared that “Labour lost its social soul.” Labour never changes.

‘The chosen few’

According to l-orizzont, national wealth under Labour was to be enjoyed by everyone and not by the ‘chosen few’. When l-orizzont referred to the ‘chosen few’, this was probably a prediction of what was to happen under a Labour administration with the creation of cliques. L-orizzont was prophetic regarding those who are having their cake and eating it. It would be appropriate if, after six years since l-orizzont’s editorial and 79 months of Labour administration, l-orizzont expresses an honest opinion regarding the ‘chosen few’ created after March 2013.

Social justice for everyone

When the Minister for Finance – under the slogan ‘A government that performs’ – gave his presentation to Cabinet regarding the Budget for 2020, the seventh Labour budget, he declared that the emphasis would be on housing and pensioners. Recalling the promises broken by Muscat, the suffering of the people since March 2013 and how wealth is being distributed among the chosen ones, I wonder how the minister’s words can be taken seriously.

Over the past 79 months, social justice – which should not look at faces – has been thrown overboard by Muscat’s government. When government says that it “shall continue distributing wealth in a just way,” it might possibly be referring, among many others, to the recent appointment of a One TV presenter (since 2016) to Head of Public Relations at Air Malta with a salary package of tens of thousands of euros. This, notwithstanding the fact that this person held a position with Malta Enterprise and other consultancy positions. Also recently, a minister’s former secretary was catapulted to the position of chief executive of a company jointly owned between the government and a private organisation. With Labour, meritocracy and social justice are a joke.

Budget expectations

Budget 2020 comes at a time when, as I quoted the Minister for Finance earlier, there are about 84,000 persons at risk of poverty. We are at a time when we are encountering various increases in prices of essential commodities, among them bread, milk and its derivatives, medicines, postage rates, petrol and diesel. Food prices are rising at double the EU average. We must also keep in mind the exorbitant increases in rent and property.

On one hand, workers are facing low wages/salaries and, on the other, the increase in the cost of living. This situation is also affecting middle class families. In these circumstances, Muscat’s government should ensure that the budget distributes social justice according to everyone’s needs. Social justice is one of the fundamental human rights.

Dignity, not charity

The budget’s primary objective should be to help families advance by putting living standards, particularly of those with a low income, at the forefront. The budget should ensure a change in the way of life of those facing poverty and those moving in that direction. SÁenior citizens and pensioners, most of whom are in the risk of poverty, should be given adequate support – dignity, not charity. The age of those pensioners receiving the €300 grant should be gradually lowered. The wealth that Muscat’s government boasts about should be shared justly with everyone, and not only the select few.

The surplus which the Minister for Finance says he wants to keep sustaining should help families, particularly those in need, including the middle class, young adults who want to rent or purchase property, and senior citizens and pensioners, most of whom cannot make both ends meet by the end of the month.

‘The best in Europe’?

Statistics published recently show that Malta had the lowest increase in wages/salaries across the European Union. The statistics also confirm that wages salaries are on the low side compared to the European average. Muscat’s claim of being “the best in Europe” is a sham. The minimum wage, which is still among the lowest in Europe, should be increased reasonablyto move with the times.

As time goes by, fewer citizens are seeing an increase in their pay packets.When compared to increases in the price of commodities, they are ending up with less money in their pockets. Even though some middle class people work fulltime and part-time, they are not making ends meet as they are also being affected negatively.

The government’s economic model to grow the economy through an unplanned increase in population is having a negative impact on wages/salaries. As government consultants have stated, cheap labour is making a comeback.

One hopes that if the minister boasts of no increases in taxes, as happened following the last few budgets, there will be no direct or indirect taxes throughout 2020 and increases in the cost of living should not wait for budget day to be adjusted, with low-income citizens receiving a higher adjustment.