An Alternattiva Demokratika delegation presented their budget proposals to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday, with perhaps the most interesting of them being a proposal to move public holidays to a Friday or Monday to create long weekends.

Finance spokesman Edward Fenech said that this move should be beneficial to both employers and employees – the

former because they will be able to adjust their schedules,

primarily in the manufacturing industry, and the latter for obvious reasons. “It will also create more tourism for Gozo in the form of long weekend breaks taken by the Maltese

worker,” he said.

AD – The Green Party – presented a 16-page document to the Prime Minister dealing with seven mainstream areas. These, said Mr Fenech, included the family, Gozo, transport, energy, taxation, tourism and housing and rent.

Alternattiva said the principle target of the proposals was to provide assistance to those families raising children, a group that they consider to be most in need. “In addition, we believe that this should be the first budget that can start to address the severe problems in housing affordability and the utilisation of the vast vacant property stock. We are also proposing that in this budget, funds are made available to compensate owners of controlled-rent properties who have suffered at the hands of successive governments for six decades,” said Mr Fenech.

Mr Fenech also said that AD’s proposals include the reduction of income tax on companies from 35 per cent to 30 per cent, but the increase in the tax rate on banks from 35 per cent to 40 per cent. “We are also proposing a reduction of the VAT rate on restaurants and tourist services from 18.5 to 12 per cent, accompanied by more enforcement on tax evasion in this sector,” said Mr Fenech.

He said that AD had also made proposals on the revision of the electricity surcharge as well as a proposal to liberalise public transport and convert the fleet of public buses to gas-powered engines. Finally, it had made two proposals to improve the economy of Gozo, that include the establishment of an “Eco-Island” Venture Capital Fund.

Mr Fenech added that AD was not in favour of the opposition’s proposal to reduce the surcharge by half – labelling the move as “irresponsible”. He also said that Malta’s general public needed to learn that the country can only be developed in a sustainable manner.

In drawing up their measures, said Mr Fenech, AD had had to make an assumption as to what funds government can make available in the coming budget for additional programmes and any further tax-reducing measures. In order to estimate such, it had assumed that the sum of Lm18 million that was available last year for distribution, will also be available this year. “We believe this assumption is fair, considering that the economic growth rate in 2008 is expected to be at least as much as that in 2007,” he said.

Mr Fenech also said that in addition to this Lm18 million, AD can be certain, from the Prime Minister’s own words, that there will be an additional saving of Lm40 million per annum of capital expenditure on the new hospital that will no longer be incurred from 2008 onwards. “However, we also recognise that, according to the Prime Minister’s own declaration, the additional operating costs of the new hospital will amount to Lm15 million per annum. This will result in a net saving of some Lm25

million.”

AD said that it was also assuming that in this budget government will have available an additional Lm43 million in funds. The cost of its proposals amount to Lm30 million, leaving government with an additional Lm13 million to meet other social programmes, economic targets or simply deficit reduction.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, accompanied by parliamentary Tonio Fenech, said that there were some interesting and workable concepts at a first glance of the proposals. “We will obviously now look into them in more detail. I also agree with AD wholeheartedly on the issue of sustainability,” he said.