Budget 2008, which will be presented in Parliament this evening, will include a number of measures intended to create more employment opportunities, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

Speaking during a political activity in Zabbar, Dr Gonzi said Budget 2008 will show that the government’s priority is that of continuing to nurture a job-generating economy, while keeping the family at the centre of our attention.

“People’s reactions to the pre-budget document were mostly related to pensioners and families with children. We have listened carefully and will be responding to people’s concerns,” said Dr Gonzi.

Now that the country’s economy has been strengthened, the government wants to strengthen families, he said, adding that Budget 2008 is the result of the Nationalist government’s serious leadership.

This year’s budget will be about a number of achievements and about how the country will continue proving to be successful, said the prime minister.

He said the government was not interested in suggestions that would damage the economy, like the proposal to revise the measure related to public holidays falling on weekends.

Prime Minister Gonzi spoke about the unimaginable negative effects of what Labour leader Alfred Sant has been suggesting over the past three years.

Dr Sant has made too many mistakes over and over again, said the prime minister, making reference to the Opposition Leader’s views related to euro adoption, devaluation of the Maltese lira and Mater Dei Hospital.

“Dr Sant and the Labour Party repeatedly said we wasted a lot of money on the new hospital. Now, they’re saying it’s a state-of-the-art hospital. Dr Sant told us we would have to devaluate the Maltese lira by 10 per cent to make it to the eurozone.

“But we made it, without having to devaluate the lira, which would have meant that medicines, the price of oil and the surcharge on utility bills, together with so many other things, would have been 10 per cent more expensive.”

Dr Gonzi also referred to the Labour leader’s opinion on SmartCity Malta, saying that in an article written in a local newspaper a year ago, Dr Sant had said the project was just an investment in property.

A year ago Dr Sant would not have gone for this project, but last Sunday, in another article the Opposition Leader said the SmartCity project is an important investment that will generate employment opportunities, said Prime Minister Gonzi.

In this regard, he said the SmartCity project will generate employment opportunities for everyone, not only for those specialised in areas related to the sector of information and communication technology.

He said that had the government taken heed of what Dr Sant has been suggesting, foreign companies like HSBC, Lufthansa Technik and others, would not have been possible.

“Three years ago we were told that we would not make it to join the euro, but we were one of the first three member States that joined in 2004, which passed the test,” said Dr Gonzi.

This is a very important certificate of recognition for Malta and yes, certificates are important for so many people whose employment depends on the state of the economy, he said.

There were still a number of challenges to overcome, but the country has a huge potential to move forward, said Dr Gonzi, who was confident that should the country continue moving in the right direction, it would continue to be successful.

In conclusion, Prime Minister Gonzi said the environment was also one of the government’s main priorities and in this year’s budget, much more will also be invested in this respect.

The other two speakers at yesterday’s activity were Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and Parliamentary Secretary in the Finance Minster Tonio Fenech.

Dr Borg spoke about the fact that the Nationalist Party has been consistent over the years and whenever it was in government, it worked towards the creation of a stable political and economic environment.

He said the fact that the country passed the test to join the eurozone and another test to adopt the Schengen agreement at the beginning of 2008, was a show of confidence in the Maltese government and the country will now be a full EU member State like each of the other larger countries that have formed part of the bloc for several years.

Mr Fenech said that thanks to the country’s responsible leadership, Budget 2008 will not introduce any new taxes; rather, it includes a number of measures that will improve people’s quality of life.

The government will continue investing heavily in the sectors of education and tourism, he said, adding that it is not by chance that this year was a very good year for the tourism sector in particular.