Recent Eurostat figures have shown that Malta’s unemployment rate stands at 5.1% - the lowest rate ever recorded since the European Union’s statistical arm began documenting data from Malta as an EU member.
On the surface, it seems like music to the ears. We have a vibrant economy, very low unemployment, increasing Gross Domestic Product, modest to robust economic growth and a sounds financial plan.
But are we harking back to yesteryear? Years of successive governments worked hard to radically reduce the numbers in the bloated civil service. Collective agreements came and went and were renewed, and all the time, governments tried to shed as many of the idle workers who were engaged in the 1980s as they could. Even when this government was elected to administer the country, there were still a few odd thousand messengers who did nothing but warm seats. Off the record, previous administrations said that they had tried to chop as many people off the ‘extra’ list as they could, even going so far as saying that the ‘hopeless cases’ were never replaced when they retired. Those who were allowed to continue collecting a pay cheque were kept on simply because they were too old, or too untrainable to find new jobs in the private sector, or be redeployed elsewhere where they could be productive in the government ranks.
When this government took power, it was blessed with inheriting a strong economy which aws growing. Admittedly, employment growth was slow and slugging and there seems to be data to back up claims that many jobs are being created in the private sector. However, it is also becoming abundantly clear that a lot more jobs are being created in the public sector. Whether or not these offer any productivity to our economy remains to be seen. However, it must also be pointed out that the problems with this will not be felt now, but in the future.
We cannot be as naieve to think that Malta’s economic miracle will go on forever. At some point, perhaps even 20 years down the line, the bubble will burst. We already have a problem with sustainability of pensions, and if we are going to return to the days of a bloated civil service, then they are going to become even more unsustainable.
On a separate note, it must be pointed out that the current trend of government releases is, on occasion, more akin to reading Labour Party propaganda. The releases are not informative and simple laced with favourable rhetoric and spin. This is not what the Department of Information should be releasing. Equally, the Opposition needs to sort its own strategy out. In a meeting between the police and the residents of Sliema last week, people were told to lock their doors and be careful when going abroad. This was pounced on by the opposition which said that the Interior Minister was not increasing police patrols and telling people to lock their doors. This is a fax pas. The Minister said nothing of the sort and the opposition is wrong to twist words in such a way. Mopre seriousness is needed. Our politics are already laughable at times, turning them into a farce is definitely not the way to go.