The old momentum is no longer there
The world today is a very different state of affairs than it was in 2013. And in Malta too, one can observe that the momentum which accompanied the Labour government’s first three years in power is no longer there. This is reflected in the slowing down of growth (although it is still a very remarkable growth) over the past years.
The person who was making this observation was none other than the Minister of Finance, Edward Scicluna, who on Tuesday was presenting the outlines of the Budget 2020 to constituted bodies at a business breakfast.
Strangely, what he felt was later confirmed by many of those who spoke at the end and who mentioned issues which are today on everybody’s mind such as the mess on the roads, the state of the environment and above all migration.
These were themes that the minister just hinted at but rather underplayed, almost as if they could easily be solved. His interlocutors, however, made it clear they disagreed.
MHRA’s Tony Zahra, who switched the meeting from being held in English to Maltese, insisted that the entry into Malta of thousands of foreign workers was unsustainable and required hefty investment in infrastructure, schools, etc.
The minister also mentioned the 19% of the population still at the risk of poverty, again as a slight hitch that can easily be solved. But he was reminded by Renee Laiviera, head of the Commission for Equality, these people still needed help and they came mostly from minorities such as migrants and migrant women specifically.
For the minister, backed by his decades-long public experience, the threats facing Malta were more global – the risk of trade wars, Brexit, populism. New tariffs come onstream on Monday, inspired by the US-China trade war. Populism has proved to be more resilient than earlier supposed.
As for Europe, his past years as an MEP and later as a minister have shown him the futility of so many meetings which always repeat the same things. Now, with a new Commission, there is a new atmosphere, such as with more emphasis on the environment and on climate change.
Having listed the plus points of this government’s economic management − growth, investment, moving from a deficit to a surplus situation, decreasing debt, a labour market with practically no unemployed – the minister promised this last issue will be addressed in the Budget Speech.
He then listed the beneficiaries of past government largesse:
• 50,000 have had their taxes reduced
• 210,000 have got tax refunds
• 24,560 have used the government’s 62+ incentive
scheme
• 15,000 children and 21,000 parents have benefited from
free childcare
• 28,000 now have free school transport
• 19,373 have benefited from the first-time buyer scheme • But just 483 have benefited from the second-time buyer
scheme
• 6,673 have benefited from a tax scheme for Gozo resi
dents, and
• 1,732 have benefited from a tax scheme regarding property.
Life expectancy and enjoyment ratings are up as are credit ratings which have grown better and better since 2013.
Finally, the minister spoke about institutional reform. He could not tack it as an addendum to his speech since even he admitted this has become very important. But rather than say this was to address specific Maltese issues, he said the world has now become very conscious of the spread of money-laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The Maltese Parliament will be addressing the transposition of 5AMLD and 6AMLD in the coming months. There will also be steps to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission; the State Advocate Bill has been passed, Financial Organised Crime Agency will be set up by the end of next year; government is committed to implement the resolutions of the Moneyval Report and the National Strategic Action Plan is now operational.