Confirmation from the latest published European data that the momentum of the Maltese economy has been maintained, reinforces business confidence. This will in itself serve to generate further economic activity.

Also the 2017 pre-budget document, which as yet I have only seen in its abridged version in the media, gives evidence of interesting perspectives in the field of public finance. A greater “fiscal space” has been established within which government can position better its investments and social outlays.

An excellent decision has been taken given current circumstances, to now provide greater support for those strata which are falling behind. Surely, attention must be given to ensure that the additional expenditure needed for this will be sustainable in the near future and beyond: it’s a target that appears feasible.

At the same time, the choice of the public investments to go for will remain a crucial factor. These should aim to achieve over at least a ten year horizon, a marked improvement over today’s levels in the island’s economic and social endowments. As in other European countries, the indications are that public investments will need to focus mostly on the environment, education and the transport infrastructure.

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Towers

One cannot but sympathise with the environmental organizations which have been protesting strongly against proposals to build huge towers in Malta, some of which will have stories in the double digits. Suddenly, Malta seems to have decided to compete with Singapore.

Anxieties, that sound justified, are being expressed about whether the infrastructure can cope with such developments, about how this will change the layout of the country, and about the impact on the life of citizens living in the shadow of the tall buildings while they are being built and when they are completed. Personally I doubt whether the studies that have been carried out to research these and other aspects can be taken seriously.

Still one other point needs to be mentioned. How many of these towers will really be built?

Over the years, in Malta we have enthused about grandiose projects that never progressed beyond the “planning” stage. All these tower projects now being announced together at the same time will need very significant bank financing. I wonder whether they will get it. This time round, the banks will probably be right to be reticient. 

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Long weekend

In past days, cheerful comments could be heard about the fact that the feast of St Mary this mid-August has given rise to a long weekend. Many many people quite seem to look forward to such holidays, which have become less frequent.

Long weekends are not liked only in Malta. The same happens in Belgium, where  recently, I have been spending quite a lot of time.

There, the joke is that Belgians are so happy with long weekends that even general strikes get organised on Fridays or Mondays in order to at least secure another three-day long weekend.

This year, as social confrontation remained on the national agenda, more than ever before Belgians could enjoy the pleasures of a long weekend.