There is an uncomfortable truth that we have to face: however necessary they may be, there is likely to come a time when we realise that the government's energy subsidies cannot last forever.
To lay things out: this is not a critique of the subsidies, or a means of saying that these should come to an end - it is merely a statement of realism that at some point or another, these subsidies are going to be shelved, and a call for the government to have a clear roadmap in place to soften the blow for when this does happen.
This is being said within the context of the upcoming Budget for 2027. Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has said that subsidies will continue, but also said that the financial burden of them has skyrocketed.
He explained that although energy and food subsidies decreased from €242.5 million in 2023 to €188.1 million in 2025, they are projected to rise significantly to €391.7 million in 2026, driven by ongoing global geopolitical tensions.
These are tensions which show no sign of cooling - if anything, matters in the last year have heated up even more.
"Over the past five years, this government has spent no less than €1.35 billion on energy subsidies. We are doing all this because we acted prudently and our country's finances are strong. If the country's finances were not strong, we would not be in a position to provide all this assistance," the Minister said.
These many millions were worth the while: allowing the market to be held captive by the whims of geopolitics would not have done the economy any good - if anything it would have risked causing severe damage.
But Caruana's acknowledgment that the belt of the country's finances has to be tightened poses an inevitable question: is there going to come a point where sticking to blanket subsidies would cause more harm to several sectors than good?
The market volatility has no doubt caused plans to be re-adjusted. For instance, Caruana offered zero guarantees - if anything he indicated against it - that the so-called €1,000 super bonus would feature in next year's Budget.
This is despite the fact that this was a keynote measure in the Labour Party's electoral campaign which was just a few months ago. Keeping in mind that the Labour Party does not make it a habit on reneging on its most prominent promises, this indicates that the situation is on the verge of being quite dire.
Does that mean that the subsidies must be removed? Far from it. But it does mean that it would be prudent for the government to start thinking of a roadmap on how these can be phased out without any shocks to the system should the time for that come.
There are no doubt several possibilities in this regard. PL MP Clint Azzopardi Flores himself put forward some ideas.
One of these is for Malta to invest in renewable energy, with the MP arguing that investing in renewable energy would make Malta less reliant on purchasing and importing energy from abroad - a sentiment that aligns with that of Central Bank Governor Alexander Demarco when he was interviewed by this newspaper earlier this year.
Malta ranks bottom in the EU for the share of electricity consumed that was generated by renewables, so this is definitely an area where a lot of improvement can be made.
Another way of starting to phase subsidies out is to cap how many units it can subsidise. This could ensure that households continue to enjoy the benefits up to a certain point of average consumption, but at the same time begin to reduce the country's reliance on these subsidies.
What is certain is that the plan must be robust: as long as the economic benefits of having the subsidies in place outweigh the economic pitfalls, then it is logical to maintain them.
A delay on a €1,000 bonus - however bad it may look for the government which promised it just a few months ago - is certainly not reason enough to reconsider that stance.
But the fact is that, given how international geopolitics has developed over the past couple of years, the subsidies are unlikely to last forever. It's that eventuality that Malta must be prepared for.