As soon as Parliament sessions resume after the summer season, the presentation of the following year’s budget starts to grab the attention of the media and that of the man in the street.

Ever since the government started to prepare what is known as a pre-budget document, and hold public discussions after receiving feedback from organisations and individuals all through the summer, the aura surrounding budget day has substantially diminished. Some of the more important items in the budget actually make it to the media long before Parliament meets on budget day.

Yet there is always great anticipation as to what the government will come up with when the Finance Minister grabs his black briefcase and goes to Parliament with his list of proposals, measures and plans for the following year.

The budget is, after all, the shape of things to come, although there are some who believe that any unpopular measures that the government wants to introduce do not form part of the budget speech, but come up during the course of the following year.

Minister Tonio Fenech will soon have the eyes of the nation on him, more so considering that the people want to know what the government intends to do now that, it seems, the world is slowly re-emerging after such a negative year of recession and international gloom.

Thankfully, Malta has not been so adversely hit as it was expected. Although, in a globalised world, it was impossible that a small island state is not negatively affected by what is going on elsewhere, the impact of the global crisis was somewhat contained.

But the hardest part is still to come – and this is when the economies of the world will speed up again once the recession is over. It is when this happens that Malta needs to be prepared. Once the wheels start turning again, hopefully sooner rather than later, Malta must be there at the starting block with the others. We cannot afford to be left behind.

And this is where the budget comes in.

It is easy to say that there will not be any goodies in the budget – for two reasons. The first is, as we said, that the international recession does not leave too many open doors for the government and, rightly so, the main aim is to seek the interests of the country, not those of individuals or individual sectors.

Secondly, this will be only the second budget in this administration, and it is common knowledge that the first two budgets bring about the tightening of belts, whereas from the third (of normally five) budgets the government will start loosening up as the country gears itself for the election.

This is why the budget must be, on the one hand, cautious, but on the other hand it must serve as a springboard. It must pave the way towards what is expected to be a better year than the one we are experiencing now. It must continue to limit the damage while simultaneously offering hope and giving courage – to both the private sector as well as the employees. It must be a budget that looks on the bright side of things, and even if unpopular measures are to be taken, they are to be explained well in the context of what is happening around us.

Preparing budget in easier times is less of an arduous task for any government. It is when the going is tough that the government’s true mettle must emerge.

Now is one of those times. The government must show that it is responsible, committed and realistic.