‘A country of quality’ was the title chosen for this year’s Budget speech, but economic and social stakeholders were left feeling unimpressed by the actual measures included, which largely focused on short-term measures that left more money in people’s pockets without addressing the country’s need for a new vision.
Speaking during last week’s episode of Il-Każin, a debate programme hosted by Jon Mallia and aired on GO’s Tokis channel, former president of The Malta Chamber Marisa Xuereb referred to the various documents presented by Government over the last years that sought to outline such a vision on a thematic and sectoral basis.
Echoing a point forcefully made by The Malta Chamber in its pre-Budget document, which listed 19 different governmental strategy documents covering everything from education and transport to tourism and financial services, Ms Xuereb sarcastically quipped that the Government “has more visions than Lourdes.”
The issue, however, is that many of these strategies seem to have been left gathering dust, with the Budget lacking any mention whatsoever of the objectives laid out in the documents.
In one exchange, the panellists - Ms Xuereb, Chamber of SMEs council member Beppe Muscat, outspoken economist Marie Briguglio and General Workers Union secretary general Josef Bonnici - described the efforts that went into drafting the Malta Economic Vision 2031 document.
Describing the many roundtable events organised as part of the consultation process, Ms Xuereb ruefully noted that the document was simply put aside and forgotten following the 2022 general election.
On the upside, all agreed that the Government did not skimp out on the events, noting that “they fed us really well!”
During the panel discussion, Ms Xuereb repeatedly called out the lack of a holistic vision, noting that the mixed signals sent by Government are leading to a ramshackle approach to economic development.
“We've been talking about the tourism sector and the improvements needed there for years. You can’t first get three million tourists, then see how to deal with the demands on energy, waste and sewage systems. People complain about the impacts, and for good reason – planning needs to be done before, not after the fact.”
Prof. Briguglio meanwhile noted that the Budget speech, at least, addressed the need for action, but agreed that “does nothing about it.”
Ms Xuereb added that the political message at the introduction and conclusion of the Budget speech was likely triggered by the MEP election, which handed the Labour Party its worst result in over a decade.
“For the first time, there was a hint of acknowledgement of what everyone has been saying – that the country needs vision, that we need quality over quantity. However, take away that wrapper, and you see that there was nothing in the measures to achieve that. So we cannot even conclude what they mean by quality.”
Mr Muscat agreed with the characterisation of the Budget as one with a divorce between the rhetoric and the substance, but expressed his doubts as to whether the Budget is really the vehicle through which these changes can be achieved.
“The way the Budget is done, the way the exercise functions, means we cannot have expectations that it will change direction. I believe the exercise, as it is done, cannot impact people’s quality of life.”
He added that the 2025 Budget “completely forgot about employers and businesses.”
On his part, Mr Bonnici, who leads Malta’s largest union, sought to fill some of the gaps in the governing party’s economic policy. The secretary of the GWU – a close ally of the governing Labour Party - argued that quality tourists demand hotels and infrastructure of a certain kind – a seemingly pointed reference, given his previous exhortation that “everyone – including NGOs – need to be on board with the vision for Malta’s future.”
NGOs have been at the forefront of a grassroots struggle, alongside residents and local councils, against several major hospitality developments they say will have a negative impact on the environment and their quality of life.
Closing the episode, Mr Mallia shared the results of a poll running for the length of the episode – with the outcome sending a strong message to policymakers.
Asked whether they think the Budget will improve their quality of life, respondents overwhelmingly voted now, with just short of four in every five (78 per cent) saying that the Maltese Government’s Budget for 2025 will not achieve that objective.
Main Image:Marisa Xuereb / All images taken from Il-Każin
