The budget debate came to a close last Wednesday. Parliamentarians grow accustomed to the fact that the last day of the debate is the longest – it is when the opposition repeatedly calls for one division after another not only with regard to the votes pertaining to the Office of the Prime Minister which is discussed last, but also with regard to the appropriation procedures that authorise the government to incur the expenditures indicated in the budget.
Approval of a budget for the forthcoming year offers Members of Parliament, the media and the public at large a unique opportunity to focus on the workings and plans of the different ministries and how all that fits in with what the country requires at any given moment in time.
In many ways however what is most relevant is what happens when the debate is over. Much as government plans are scrutinised in sufficient detail, I could easily notice from home visits that I am carrying out that ultimately what strikes the imagination of the people at large are the measures deemed to have immediate impact on our spending power. In particular people in their homes are asking about the new utility tariffs and the car registration as well as licence system.
Fear of the unknown is the worst fear of all. I believe that when the new bills actually reach our homes, we will realise that the increases, where relevant, will be far more reasonable than many are making them out to be. Moreover tariffs that are pegged to the price of oil can eventually result in lower bills when the oil consumed to light up, cool or heat our dwellings and offices is bought at a cheaper rate than what we had to make use of, over the past months. More importantly such tariffs are “the real thing” – subsidies only serve to make us think that it does not matter to waste more, since someone else is footing the bill.
Only last week I decided to invest in some energy saving lamps for my office. The ones that I bought cost more than ordinary lamps but like anyone else I need to do my own bit if I really wish to save on electricity consumption.
I am confident that the government will take up a few of the suggestions made by the GRTU as well as by other unions at meetings held with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister last Tuesday. Open dialogue and a determination in favour of formulas that safeguard those who need most help as well as formulas that motivate reasonable thresholds of lower consumption form part of the government’s recipe to move ahead with the reforms that the country needs but equally not to do that at any cost imaginable.
An important meeting of the Public Accounts Committee was taking place in parliament on the eve that the budget debate was drawing to a close. The Central Bank governor informed that committee on Tuesday that in Malta public investment through projects is far more effective to generate economic growth and jobs than simply lowering income tax or giving out more social benefits.
Even assuming that in the current international financial crisis, the people will not revert to hoarding as opposed to consuming more, in a country where most of what we spend goes towards imported products, just dishing out money means helping out the economy of other countries but not our own!
The governor of the central bank also referred to the fact that our adoption of the euro in the beginning of this year has had a beneficial effect on our economy which would have otherwise had to face the kind of problems faced by Iceland that had so far followed the wrong kind of advice that stems from people who think that a decision in favour of the euro must be kept permanently on hold!
The famous “New Deal” in the United States of America was based on the principle that by carrying out major projects and in the process injecting public funds into the economy, an effective recovery comes about. Just as there is now talk of the “New New Deal” following the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, the government of Malta intends not only to embark on all the projects indicated in the budget, but also to go the extra mile and invest that much more in what will really make the difference in favour of growth, wealth and jobs.
The other Sunday, the Prime Minister wanted to drop far more than a mere hint when he asked out loud and publicly whether or not the time is ripe to address the issue of the entrance to our capital city as one of the investments that we need to carry out urgently. St Elmo’s restoration is another investment worth making. Tomorrow morning, the foundation stone of ‘Smart City’ will be laid.
We can only establish our worth as captains and sailors when the sea around us is turbulent. We can establish our worth that much more strongly if we all learn to have the courage to make the right decisions at the right time and to seek to sail in one direction.
Francis Zammit Dimech is a Nationalist MP