As has become customary under the Gonzi administration, the Minister of Finance has published a pre budget document with an invitation to all interested parties to submit their suggestions before budget document is finalised later on in the year.

Government’s deliberations contained in the 12 chapters that make the 162-page document are by no means final but, on the contrary, are intended to generate informed discussion and hopefully intelligent and feasible proposals. Gone are the days of absolute secrecy and high expectations about the rise in price or otherwise of tinned food.

The 2010 budget focused on competitiveness at a time of international recession. This year’s pre budget takes the global economic recovery as its context to seek ways to consolidate national achievements and exploit further opportunities. For 2011, the government is suggesting concentrating mainly on social aspects, including investment in education and health, and economic growth. The sustainability of finances and provisions for employment, of course, remain priorities. Initiatives to increase the workforce, particularly through an increase in the number of women, young people and the elderly in employment, are also contemplated.

In the health sector, the government will ensure the implementation of a national strategy on cancer, introduce the PET scanner and strengthen the campaign against tobacco and obesity. There will be more funding for scholarships, while new schools and colleges with sports facilities will continue to be built annually. Measures are being contemplated to reduce emissions and pollution together with the creation of green jobs. As is evident, the government remains determined to sustain and indeed improve our quality of life.

To this end, one of the main targets is to reduce Malta’s deficit from 3.9 per cent of GDP to 2.9 per cent, at the same time ensuring that this deficit reduction will not affect economic recovery. For three consecutive years, the PN in government has reduced income tax but this time around the priorities have to be centred on further investment in education, health and social balance. Of course, the social expenditure has to be sustained by economic growth and we have to keep encouraging and attracting the capital investment that creates jobs. Employment remains an optimal form of social solidarity.

Last month, European Central Bank president Jean Claude Trichet, while being optimistic that Europe is not facing another period of recession, renewed his support for reforms and deficit cuts to boost confidence.

While Europe was badly hit by global recession and various governments around Europe had to introduce austerity measures, the PN government’s vision saved us from those disagreeable decisions that generally meant a loss of jobs, reduction in wages, tightening of the welfare system and other unpleasant cuts.

The present unemployment figures, which reach 20 per cent and more in certain countries, are in no small way a reason for concern.

Fortunately, Malta took appropriate decisions at the right time and though they called for sacrifices and were hardly popular, these decisions eventually proved rewarding, as others who did not have our vision and courage found themselves in serious difficulties that totally upset their accustomed standard of living.

The government did away with unnecessary subsidies and the millions thus ‘saved’ were used to help business through the rough patch of international economic recession. Hundreds of redundancies from our manufacturing industry were thus avoided. This decision proved so successful that these factories not only survived but actually further invested, developed, enlarged, diversified and created more employment.

One of the Island’s main pillars, the tourist industry, was also affected because of problems in the countries from which tens of thousands of our visitors come, year in, year out. In this regard, the Malta Tourism Authority was also given an impressive €31m for various projects and programmes to attract more tourists. Positive results have been registered, as shown by this week’s NSO and MIA-published figures that show an increase of 11 per cent in incoming tourism during the first six months of the year.

In general the figures show that the government is on the right track, even if certain quarters continue to depict a gloomy picture regardless. The pre-budget document does not provide all the answers, but it is definitely a good basis for discussion. There is always room for improvement but the government remains determined in its quest to foster social solidarity sustained by economic growth.

Mr Puli is the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sports.