By now, our politicians would have said practically all they had to say about the government’s budget for next year.

And the tax-paying electorate finds itself abandoned to its own devices, obliged to carry the can, and to anticipate pleasures yet to come.

The loud but hollow sound of propaganda tom-toms about Malta’s sound finances and a “budget with no new taxes” has faded. And the electorate is faced with stiff, sharp rises in the electricity surcharge and the price of fuel, which are set to escalate further. As if that were not enough, the cost of living wage adjustment is going to impose further strains on the engines of production, and hence on their competitivity.

Both situations are bound to work themselves into the economy, adding even more burdens. It will take some more time before the fall-out from the budget debate finally settles. The budget tonic is turning out to be a toxin.

Authentic message

It would be a gross mistake if one thinks that this predicament has its origin in the rising price of oil in the international market. Like Malta, other countries that depend on oil have managed to achieve a faster rate of growth than Malta. Malta’s real problems arise from other weaknesses – to wit, a consistent l7-year run of deficit spending, which artificially inflated the Gross National Product to whip up the feel-good factor.

Obsessed by political mathematics – mainly related to EU considerations – the government embarked on a crazy, money no problem spending spree that created a mountain of debt, triggered a structural deficit, and produced a massive annual debt servicing bill approximating Lm80 million.

That damage has to be repaired – not by the Ministers who caused it, but by the taxpayers, at a rate left to the discretion of the Gonzi Cabinet.

This is the authentic message of reality as Malta faces the future.

The tax burden has indeed become heavier. Revenue has been augmented by the sale of some of the family silver. But spending continues to exceed revenue to this day.

The government knew that it had to come round to cut its coat according to its cloth. But it flew in the face of all the advice it was given – ranging from the Governor of its own Central Bank to the International Monetary Fund.

The chips are down

Now the chips are down. It is the taxpayers, not the PN Ministers, who are in the soup!

The same Ministers blame the Opposition and accuse recalcitrant trade unions – but they never blame themselves for their sins of omission and commission. On the contrary, they expect the taxpayers to plug the black hole in the government’s finances.

That’s why taxpayers are in high dudgeon. They resent their assigned role as sacrificial lambs on the altar of incompetence and are, moreover, outraged by the ineptitude of failed politicians who persist in pretending that they are economic wizards!

They know the economy has been locked in a Convergence Programme and that after the abrupt “reform” of the student stipends system, more austerity is plainly on the cards involving “restructuring” programmes for the health and social services sectors and a “revision” of the pensions system.

Commenting editorially on the final outcome, The Times (2 November) declared that “right now, few may be in any mood to pat the government on the back for its ‘achievements’ except its diehard supporters”. It further commented that “as realism takes second place to emotional analysis of the budget, the way ahead is likely to remain somewhat blurred for quite some time”. It went on to say that “it may seem hardly appropriate on the government’s part to preen in front of the mirror over the fact that it has managed to keep to its targets” and that “many may find it difficult sharing the Prime Minister’s views on the government’s overall performance, particularly

at this point in time”. Straightforward as he was, the writer of the leader missed the real point at issue.

Considering that the government knew what it had to do, and failed twice after solemnly undertaking to sanitize its public spending policy, could it be taken at its word and trusted for a third time?

The electorate has been led twice too often up the garden path. It will not face the long haul with confidence under a government that has been repeatedly tried and found wanting.

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