Last week, we witnessed, once again, the negativity of the Opposition Leader during his address on the Budget 2008. Once more, we were subjected to a speech that lacked ideas and direction. Alfred Sant chose to isolate himself from the rest of society and paint everything black.
The budget for 2008 is the result of wisely taken decisions over the last years, that led to success stories for our country and society in general. It is the fruit of more investment, more employment opportunities and a better skilled workforce, among other things.
The public consultation exercises proved to be fruitful, leading to a budget document that reflected the needs of our society. While being careful not to hinder the progress made in our country’s economic growth, the measures presented reflect the success we are living day by day.
The work does not stop here. In the past few years, we achieved very good results but now we must continue to assure that these results continue to build up to gain more successes.
To assure further growth and prosperity for the Maltese society we must continue striving to achieve the best results. We must make sure that the EUR855 million to be received from the European Union are used wisely; we must continue to invest in our workers and young people by providing the best education and training, and improving our society’s standard of living in every sector.
Our country and our society have growth potential. The government led by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi believes that Malta can succeed if we make good use of this potential. We are not makku, we can compete and succeed, and we are proving this.
Our country has gained the right momentum to generate further economic growth and prosperity and this must not be hindered. We already experienced obstructions when Dr Alfred Sant opted to freeze the European Union application. This time such obstacles cannot be permitted. We must not allow further nonsense when it comes to our country’s social and economic growth.
It would have been a different story if Alfred Sant’s ideas were implemented. The Opposition Leader wanted to devaluate the Maltese Lira by 10 per cent. This would have increased the cost of living by 10 per cent while at the same time would reduce the value of the Maltese lira to 90c.
The government’s policy is giving realistic and credible results. Only the Opposition Leader is not recognising the positive effect. Even the weekly economic news magazine, The Economist, praised our country’s work to face challenges such as globalisation.
One positive result of our joining the EU was a surge in incoming foreign investment. Last year the flow was around Lm550 million, more than 25 times the level of 10 years ago. While at the same time, more Maltese companies are either exporting products to other markets or providing services abroad.
Malta’s improvement in competitiveness has resulted in thousands of new jobs. A study carried out by Eurostat shows that employment in Malta over the past 12 months rose by 3.1 per cent, double the average increase registered in the 27 EU member states. New quality jobs in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, aeronautical engineering, the financial services and IT have been created.
The government’s vision for our country, together with the introduction of the euro this coming January will further improve our competitiveness in international markets. This will attract further foreign investors that will create more jobs for our workforce.
Our country is at the doorstep of another massive leap forward in our economic and political history because of joining the second largest world currency. This will continue to boost the successes achieved since joining the European Union. In the last three years, we grew at every level - competitiveness, employment, foreign direct investment, financial services as well as high quality manufacturing, tourism and the maritime sector, all sectors producing higher quality jobs for the Maltese people.
The results can be felt by the whole society; in the last three budgets workers gained more, the deficit is being reduced and this paved the way to more economic growth. This budget further consolidates the commitment made by the government to give our families a better standard of living. At the same time, the government was prudent enough not to hinder the goals that we achieved in the last years. The measures presented reflect the economic achievements attained in the last three years, while at the same time opened the way to further economic growth.
Without doubt, these measures will leave our society in a much better position both financially and socially. Public opinion has proved this while international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, continue to confirm that the policies taken would guarantee further growth for our economy.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP
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www.davidcasa.eu