It was quiet surprising, last Monday, to hear the Minister of Finance reading the Budget Speech for a record almost four hours, especially with his background in the European Parliament and its three-minute rule.

That fact in itself should have made us aware the Budget Speech was full of trees and we, the listeners, risked missing the wood for the trees.

In other words, the reactions, predictably, were more expressions of un/satisfaction by interested bodies that their pet suggestion was taken/not taken on board.

This seems to be the leitmotif of the present government in that it draws up a long list of precise commitments (such as were made in pre-electoral times) and then ticks off the implementation of the same. The focus, in other words, is on the carrying out of commitments rather than on the presentation of a holistic approach on the national economy.

There may be times when such a piece-meal approach meets everyone's expectations and people so placated come out with praise of the Budget Speech.

Most of the points announced in the Speech can be termed housekeeping tasks, aiming at smoothing out and unwrinkling what was already there, rather than seeking to break new ground, open up new possibilities, set up new linkages, etc. Mainly, therefore, the present Administration felt safe and comfortable to follow the initiatives developed by the previous one, ironing out the kinks in those initiatives and boasting it had to be the one to fully implement them and to correct their defects.

There has not been any ground-breaking initiative announced, a new area of business identified, or new growth opportunities identified. The government seems happy to allow the private sector to do this for it.

However, the real macroeconomic news was that not only the deficit target is being kept and bettered but also that in 2015 it will be down to 1.6%, a historic low for Malta.

That, and more sustainable prices for electricity provide households and people with more hope for the future.

At the same time, one also notes that in a bid to compensate for this low expenditure and revenue, the government seeks to compensate for €100 million less in revenue (because of pre-announced cuts in income tax) with €200 million more to be attained through increases in excise taxes. In other words, reduced direct taxes are being replaced by higher indirect taxes. That is the very core of the Budget.

While many of the increased costs are small and can be borne by users, the government then went one better and targeted one cohort among the needy categories, proven in countless surveys to be prone to falling into poverty and issued draconian diktats in their regard.

We are speaking about single mothers. The Budget says that, one year after the birth of their child, the single mother will be offered an opportunity to get trained, or else lose the benefits.

We will never support abuse, and there were indeed cases of abuse. But not all single mothers can leave their children with family and go off to courses. Losing their benefits may lead them to periods of hardship and despair.

It is unseemly of a government that no longer says it is a Labour one, to try and solve its financial problems at the cost of the needy. This is no longer a caring government but on the contrary an uncaring one.

Readers may be surprised why this paper, a business paper, is taking this approach. The answer is that an economy such as ours is built on the strength of its component parts and not on the suffering of the underdogs. If this is the best this government can offer, heaven help us all.