If I had to choose two words to describe this year’s budget I would use “missed opportunity”. In a budget speech ironically called Investing for the Future, Minister Edward Scicluna did everything except what was most expected of him: set a vision for our country’s future.

This is the sixth budget presented by a Labour government and the first of the new legislature. In six budgets Minister Sciclunahad more than ample time to do what all his predecessors did before him: map out the economic future of our country. Sadly, he failed yet again on this all important task. Instead we were presented with a tweaking budget, a budget that focuses too much on the small detail ignoring in the process the big picture.

There was no serious vision of how government plans to ensure that our economy remains relevant in the economic realities of tomorrow. There was no mention of the new economic sectors. There was no strategic talk or concrete action aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of our pension system. There were no measures aimed at combatingthe problem of early school leavers and address the current crisis in the lack of teachers. Did this budget tell us how our education system is going to carry our children to reach their full potential and be in a position to tap the most advantageous jobs created by our economy? No it didn’t.Neither did it explain how the one billion euro of European Union funds aregoing to being utilised to improve our quality of life and the competitiveness of our industries.

This budget also ignored or glossed over the most pressing problems that we facing. People who live in rented property and who are facing hardship because of the steep increase in their rent are none the wiser after this budget. Government did not set out his vision of how it intends to eradicate poverty. We have a new class of poverty in Malta, made up of people who used to consider themselves middleclass earners who are dependent on a salary which is not expanding at the same level as their costs are. This new class of poverty includes a growing number ofpensioners. The budget did not explain how government is going to tackle this scourge.

When Minister Scicluna delivers his budget speech next year, we will still be clogged in traffic jams. Government’s promise to resurface all our roads – even if it implemented - will not solve the traffic disaster that is impacting negatively on our quality of life and also on our competitiveness. Government did not feel the need to address the degradation ofour built and natural environment.The budget did not offer solutions to Air Malta’s employees. Neither did it tackle the problems being faced by our manufacturing sector, despite a 33% drop in exports of goods. And contrary to the impression given by Minister Scicluna, in a year’s time, the national debt will continue to shoot up as it has throughout the past six years. In the past six years, national debt shot up by a billion euro. To put it differently, our national debt went up by half a million euros every day spent in office by Minister Edward Scicluna. Minister Scicluna talked about a budget surplus. But we we have economic, social and environmental deficits which will grow unless we tackle these problems head on.

In the past years, our country had moved away from the Father Christmas Budget syndrome. The budget had ceased to be a PR exercise aimed at showing how benevolent government can be and became instead a planning tool. Of course it should have fiscal measures but these measures should be part of a long term vision, backed by concrete plans. Instead of this vision, we now have a social media friendly budget: a budget that works well in Facebook memes and looks good in YouTube clips but fails to deliver solutions to some of our country’s most pressing problems.

Mario de Marco, PN Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, shadow minister for finance