During the past two weeks a lot has been said about the 2025 Budget. On one hand the Opposition accused the government of not providing quality, while on the other hand, the government's narrative entailed that this budget would lead to quality. Let's agree that the 2025 Budget delivered socialist measures, not least the widening of the tax bands that will be benefitting several families.

Considering what happened in the United States, with the Harris vs Trump elections, I hasten to add that inflation did play a key part in the electorate's decision to choose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris. I am mentioning this because, even here in Malta, in the past two years people felt the pinch of inflation, notwithstanding that the government managed to smoothen the impact of energy prices with energy subsidies, and other measures aimed at helping families. True, not everything is rosy here, but we are way better off than other countries, especially when it comes to debt and deficit statistics. Meanwhile, the Opposition failed to understand the basics of A Level economics. The Opposition Leader's speech failed to tackle concretely what they would have done better, not least because of the lack of basic education in economics. The debt to GDP ratio narrative and the inequality of income, made us economists cringe in our seats. Being populist does not aid in bringing moderate voters on board. Perhaps, they should consider proposing measure that aid in creating wealth and quality.

This week I travelled to Brussels for a conference. While I was attending this conference attendees were perplexed with the result of the US elections, and inflation was one of the reasons cited for this result. Had the Maltese government not subsidised energy prices, economic growth would have faltered. In the 2025 Budget, the Maltese government will be providing these energy subsidies, and in addition, pumping additional money in people's pockets through the widening of the tax bands leaving more disposable income. Frankly, it is a good measure because it will help families who were hit by inflation in the past two years. However, it is important to note that we are already at full employment, and additional increases in aggregate demand might lead to a slight increase in inflation. The government must remain vigilant to prevent price increases, given that inflation still needs another year to settle. Personally, I think that more can be done on social housing and affordable housing. Last Thursday, I wrote an article on The Malta Business Weekly, and provided several examples of how this could be tackled.

The EU is moving towards the green transition. With or without the United States, I think that the EU will keep on implementing the Green Transition. Likewise, in the US, given that the Inflation Reduction Act, is now excessively intertwined and ingrained in the system with many investors making use of subsidies to provide and invest in greener technology. For this reason, the Maltese government must sit down with companies and provide a holistic overview on the polluting sectors that need to contribute to lower emissions. Indeed, one of the measures that can reduce CO2 emissions is the reduction of employee commuting. The government should consider offering additional incentives to companies to reduce CO2 emissions related to employee commuting. It can help with less traffic on the road during rush hour, less emission thereby less negative social and health effects on society, less stress and better mental health - remote working and teleworking must be prioritised. If the next priority is quality, the government must implement measures that encourage people to engage with its policies for reasons beyond just monetary benefits, and secondly to induce a feel-good factor. Research shows that workers are more productive, because they feel happier to contribute. And this must not stop at private companies, but also applied within the public sector and public services.

Overall, the 2025 Budget focused more on the social aspect rather than the E of ESG. However, this is also needed for a just transition. Now, the next level is not just providing open green spaces in remote areas but we need green spaces and pedestrian zones in our urban areas too. This will aid in providing quality. Meanwhile, douze point to the Prime Minister and the Minster for Finance for providing a social budget, which it will truly help families in 2025.