Former Central Bank Governor Edward Scicluna has announced the passing of Professor Maurice Mullard, who was born in 1946.
Professor Mullard had attended the Lyceum between the years of 1958 and 1963, then going on to undertake his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the UK, where he became Professor of Policy studies at the University of Hull and later a Reader Emeritus in Public Policy at the same University.
Prof. Scicluna said that following his experiences and studies in the UK, the Maltese Government made use of Professor Mullard’s advisory services in the mid-90s through the then finance minister Lino Spiteri.
When the PL came to Government in 2013, then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat informed Prof Scicluna, Finance Minister at the time, that Prof Mullord was again offering his services, which Prof Scicluna accepted.
“Professor Mullard has written on economic policy making, on social policy, on public spending, on changing political contexts, on globalisation on citizenship and democracy and later still on the international recession and the economic meltdown of 2008.”
“Faced with an Excessive Deficit Procedure by the Commission I quickly set Prof Mullard working on a comprehensive spending review of all the Government ministries. After submitting the report in October I asked him to set a permanent Expenditure Review Unit within the Ministry, followed by an extensive training programme for senior civil servants on zero budgeting,” Prof. Scicluna said.
This interaction led to a detailed set of information on which the then Government could make comparative studies on productivity and cost saving, “and facilitating the exchange of good practices and incentives to ensure that the country's finances are improved,” Prof Scicluna said.
“But above all he served as a needed companion on which I could share a number of ideas on the economic reforms which Malta needed so badly at the time. His useful contributions and thoughts during the introduction of free child care, the tapering of social benefits for single mothers and long term unemployed, the introduction of in-work benefits, all under the principle of wanting to Make Work Pay was so much appreciated.”
