Prime Minister Robert Abela said that people “used to be afraid of the Budget” but now “they look forward to it”, as he took a swipe at the Nationalist Party throughout a political speech dedicated to last Monday’s Budget speech.

Abela was speaking at a Labour Party political activity in Marsaxlokk on Sunday.

Abela said that the Budget was born out of multiple consultation meetings that were held with stakeholders in a myriad of sectors.  This Budget – the third out of five in this legislature – was “strong, social, full of incentives, and took nothing away from anybody except the burden of taxes,” Abela said.

He referred to increases in pensions that the Labour government has included in every single Budget since being elected to power in 2013, saying that the party has increased pensions by €3,500 – or €70 per week.

He said that today, by the eighth pension payment, pensioners will have received the full amount that they’d have otherwise received back in 2013.

Abela handed another swipe to the PN, saying that in the context of extraordinary inflation, the party told the government to let the market drive itself.

“When we introduced Stabbilta they told us not to touch the free market and if the price increases abroad, then it should increase here too.  There is an Opposition leader whose solution for energy prices is to liberalise the energy distribution system – which means higher prices,” he said.

“We are the only country on the other hand who has given all this support – and we could do it because we were prudent and because our priorities are right,” he continued.

Abela referred to the increase in the children’s allowance – which has now topped €500, thereby exceeding the €450 which the PL promised in its 2022 general election manifesto.

“This is the difference between us: The PN promises everything and does nothing, and we promise something and give more,” he said.

Speaking now about the widening of the tax bands, he said that the first €1,000 of a person’s salary will be completely free of income tax.

The first reason for this message, he said, was that it was an electoral promise, which meant that it had to be fulfilled.  He said that a lower income tax translates to better economic confidence and more spending power, and added that it could be done because the wealth the government had created was double that of 2012.

“Others increased taxes, but instead of reducing the country’s debt, they increased it anyway,” he said.

“They put all the burdens onto your shoulders, reduced investment, and they still managed to explode the country’s deficit.  Throughout a pandemic and two wars, we shouldered the people’s burdens and we still reduced the country’s deficit,” Abela said.

He spoke about the emphasis placed on economic development during the Budget speech, noting that the country wants to move towards an economy of quality.

“In 2013 we had an economy which didn’t have quality or quantity.  Today, we have the biggest economic growth in all of Europe, and that’s why we need to re-direct our economic development,” he said.

He placed emphasis on the labour market and on quality tourism and saying that the Budget had presented targeted measures towards quality in this end.

On open spaces, Abela said that the government had shown commitment by even dedicating public land which could have been commercially exploited to be turned into urban open green spaces for people to enjoy.

“When the PN tells you that the environment is not important for this government, ask what green projects it gave to the people.  In Ta’ Qali, did they make a €60 million national park or leave an illegal concrete factory?  In Qortin and Wied Fullija, did they leave a landfill or create an open space? In Benghajsa, did they want to expand the Freeport or give us a park?”

He said that the country has grown, and it’s important that is keeps growing – but that has brought challenges.  Still, the Prime Minister said that he would never dream of wanting to return to the challenges of 2012, which featured unemployment and low wealth generation.

The Prime Minister said that it is important that workers are treated with dignity, irrespective of their nationality, but foreign workers cannot keep the salaries of Maltese and Gozitans low.  The same counts for investment too: nowadays, new investment cannot be focused on the number of jobs it creates but on the quality it brings, he said. 

He continued that the PN had said that this Budget was to save his skin, and Abela thanked PN leader Bernard Grech for the remark as the statement shows how good a Budget it was – and said that this will not be enough for Grech to save his own skin.

He added that the PN had then “dragged out Paul Borg Olivier to stop us advertising” the Budget. “Back then, they didn’t want to advertise the Budget because the people would worry about it. Back then, the people were afraid of the Budget, today people look forward to it,” he said.

He gave his word that the government will be working to implement this Budget, adding that the people “know where they stand with us.”