Last Monday, in an activity organised by the Labour Party on the occasion of Worker’s Day, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that the government, as from tomorrow, will be delivering cheques to all workers.

The crowd listening to him in front of the Parliament building in Valletta waved their flags and applauded. They were happy that they will be receiving what they believe is a gift from the government. They did not realise, or perhaps they just do not want to understand, that the money they will be depositing in their bank accounts is money that they should not have paid in the first place.

It is, after all, a tax refund, and the meaning of the word “refund” speaks for itself. It is something that should not have been paid in the first place. It rightfully belongs to the people who will be receiving it, when it should not have been taken away from them.

But the government wraps it up in such a way as to appear benevolent and kind. It is a stunt that was introduced by the Joseph Muscat government, and it has been used ever since as a way of currying the people’s favour. Often, it has been strategically handed out close to an election, like it happened last year and will likely happen next year before the European Parliament election.

The cheque that workers will be receiving will change little for them. It is crumbs when compared to what people close to the top of the Labour movement (is it still being called such?) are pocketing month after month from appointments that they have been given.

But the government knows how the (majority of) Maltese think, and how they can easily be swayed by a hand-out or a voucher for a pizza.

There was a time, when the Labour Party was in Opposition, when it used to harshly criticise the then Nationalist government of squandering money. The older generations will remember Labour accusing the PN of emptying Malta’s coffers and leaving the debt created to be paid by future generations.

Well, the shoe is on the other foot now. The country’s debt has continued to rise, month after month, and it has now surpassed €9 billion. A press statement issued by the National Statistics Office on 28 April said that at the end of March, central government debt stood at a staggering €9,166.4 million, an increase of €700.2 million when compared to 2022.

Just to put things into perspective, the 250,000 taxpayers who will be receiving a few tens of euros in a cheque over the coming days each have a debt of €36,000 or so.

The government continues to say that the rise in the country’s debt was to be expected, given the turmoil that was brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, which was further exacerbated by the events linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It also defends itself by saying that it is keeping inflation lower by subsidising energy and fuel, whose price has not gone up as it has in other countries. Yet, even here, the government is only delaying the problem. Constituted bodies have repeatedly said that the government will have to face the music in the long run. The newly-appointed president of the Chamber of Commerce, Chris Vassallo Cesareo, told this media house in an interview last month that this situation cannot “carry on forever”.

The government also knows this, as it is being reminded by the European Union that it needs, according to Finance Minister Clyde Caruana, “to balance the books and cut down on subsidies”, given that the €400 million that is being annually spent to cushion the rising costs of energy is pushing the national deficit beyond the set limit of 3% of GDP.

There are risks Malta could face an excessive deficit procedure against it unless matters are brought under control. It is therefore likely that, sooner or later, the government will be forced to review its position on the energy subsidies. They were never sustainable, and the more time passes, the less sustainable they will be.

There is therefore a real possibility that consumers – individuals and businesses – will suddenly face a price increase that many of them will not be able to cope with. In his speeches, Abela plays the political game and says that while the government wants to continue to help people through the energy subsidies, the Opposition wants to stop them.

“We believe that we should continue to help all our families and businesses with energy prices,” he told his supporters a few days ago, while “the PN wants us to stop the energy subsidies”.

It will not be long before these words will come back to bite Abela.