Opposition Leader Alex Borg criticised Budget 2027 for failing to address some of Malta's biggest challenges, including traffic, healthcare waiting lists, declining productivity and the country's reliance on population growth to sustain economic expansion.

Speaking at a press conference following Finance Minister Clyde Caruana's budget speech, Borg said the budget contained some positive measures but ultimately failed to provide solutions to several longstanding problems.

"Another budget, but the same problems," Borg said, arguing that the government had missed an opportunity to tackle issues affecting the country's long-term sustainability.

Traffic was among the main concerns raised by the Opposition Leader. Borg referred to comments by Sustainable Mobility Minister Chris Bonett that studies on traffic were being conducted, noting that Caruana had said in recent weeks that he had not seen these studies and would not deliver them if he was unsure about their findings.

He also questioned whether the budget would lead to a reduction in hospital waiting lists, arguing that there was no guarantee that patients would receive treatment more quickly. Borg further criticised the lack of investment in hospitals to meet the needs of Malta's growing population.

The Opposition Leader also said the budget failed to address the need for more open spaces and greater environmental protection.

Borg identified productivity as one of the country's biggest challenges, pointing out that Malta's productivity levels remain among the lowest in Europe.

He argued that the country's economic growth model was increasingly dependent on population growth, claiming that Malta needed an additional 14,000 people every year to sustain GDP growth of 4%.

Despite this population increase, productivity was declining, he said, while the country's infrastructure was not receiving the investment required to accommodate the growing population.

Borg said the budget had failed to address this imbalance, raising questions about the sustainability of Malta's current economic model.

When asked by a journalist whether he believed third-country nationals (TCNs) should be financially disadvantaged in this way, Borg did not directly answer the question. Instead, he reiterated that the budget should address the problems facing the country and argued that it had failed to do so.

Borg also addressed the Opposition's position on government subsidies, describing them as a positive measure and stressing that the Nationalist Party was not calling for their removal.

However, he argued that the country also needed to invest more in renewable energy, saying that Malta ranked last in the European Union in the generation of energy from renewable sources.

He said the government needed to provide the public with greater certainty that Malta would not experience another summer marked by power cuts.

According to Borg, Budget 2027 failed to address the issue of power cuts, despite the importance of ensuring a reliable electricity supply.

The Opposition Leader also criticised the exclusion of NET News journalists from the pre-budget press briefings.

Borg described the decision as discrimination against journalists, arguing that every newsroom should be invited to such briefings and given the opportunity to ask questions.

He said that, if the Nationalist Party were in government, it would invite journalists from ONE News, despite the station's political alignment with the Labour Party.

Borg insisted that all newsrooms should have the opportunity to question the government, regardless of their political affiliations.