Charles Mangion accused the government of financial incompetence yesterday, and said the government was failing to control its recurrent expenditure.
The Labour Party’s deputy leader and spokesman for parliamentary, financial and economic affairs, said official statistics on the government’s financial situation for the January-June period this year clearly showed that several important targets the government had set itself were not being achieved.
Certain increases in public recurrent expenditure showed that the government had not done its calculations for this year’s budget seriously. For instance, expenditure on medicines and hospital medicinal needs had gone up by Lm2.2 million, so that the budget vote for them had been spent in six months.
This clearly showed that the government did not have an idea of the expenditure in this important sector, and it appeared that expenditure would be twice what had been estimated. Because the expenditure on efficient, sustainable and free health services was rising, the government’s estimates needed to be as exact as possible. The government’s failure in this regard was shameful.
Dr Mangion said the government had also failed to calculate how much the energy support scheme would cost. The government had already spent 33 per cent more than forecast in the budget estimates for 2007, confirming that the high surcharge imposed on families was badly affecting more families than the government itself had expected.
The government’s aim that recurrent expenditure for 2007 would not rise by more than Lm7 million over the amount for 2006 had already disappeared, and in the first six months the government’s recurrent expenditure had already gone up by Lm18 million. The government was trying to imply that the high expenditure was due to social services. But the estimates for 2007 showed that it had already made provision for more social benefits. This meant that the higher-than-forecast increase in recurrent expenditure was due to a lack of control over other expenditure in respect of government operations.
While the government had promised to control the expenditure of public entities, it had contributed over Lm100,000 more each month for these entities’ expenditure. This confirmed the government’s failure to control recurrent expenditure.
Dr Mangion said the government had failed to benefit from all the funds due from the European Union, and in the first six months this year Malta had failed to draw over Lm21 million, compared with the first six months last year. Taking into consideration the fact that while Malta was failing to withdraw these funds in time, it was paying all its dues to the EU, the loss would be greater. It was the Maltese and Gozitan people who were paying for the incompetence of the Nationalist government, he said.
The financial figures for the first six months of the year gave the lie to, and created serious doubts about, what the government was saying about the sustainability of the country’s finances. All caution about recurrent expenditure was evaporating, the closer the general election became. This situation was prevailing despite the taxation burden over the last four years increasing at the highest rate in Europe, meaning a heavier burden of over Lm50 million each year and translating into weaker purchasing power for families.
Dr Mangion said they needed more transparency, accountability and efficiency in public administration.