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Michaela Muscat
Government is aiming to even out the balance of payments by 2010, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said on Friday during a MaltaToday breakfast meeting.
In a speech entitled “Reform and the way forward”, Gonzi said government’s vision was based on “the three important pillars” of economy, education and environment. In an unusually eloquent and lengthy address, Gonzi insisted that “change and reform are pre-requisites for the country to move forward.” The changes include curtailing the deficit, one of the Maastricht criteria for the introduction of the euro and privatisation.
The Prime Minister said restructuring was imperative in certain sectors “for Malta to be in a better position to compete and maximise its potential.” Dismissing subsidies as part and parcel of socialist ideology, he did not mince with his words about the need of having all public sectors agencies trimmed: “not just for the sake of it, but because it’s an important ingredient of what we perceive to be the way forward for Malta.”
Taking a page from Thatcher’s book, he eulogised on government being kept to a minimum and “leaving business to the businessmen”:
“This government’s strategy is one that encourages entrepreneurs and creates the right environment for them, including a level playing field. We are part of an internal market and we should maximise being part of the European Union and in the middle of the Mediterranean.”
Referring to the General Worker’s Union stubborn refusal, and subsequent U-turn, on the Sea Malta privatisation, Gonzi said the “saga is something that proves if you don’t change and change quickly it will be a total disaster. The reluctance to accept change and lack of speed to respond to the realities and the end result is 144 people losing their job when government had brought the best deal.”
Even in face of the recent mass redundancies of workers in the manufacturing sector, Gonzi is convinced of the need for a strong industrial base.
“But it’s a sector which needs to go through the transition process by changing into one that is value added to exploit the assets of the workforce. A strong industrial base means that we can compete from the medium to long-term.”
The Prime Minister blamed the “international scenario” for the economic difficulties that Malta is facing, only to be shot down by seasoned economist Karm Farrugia. In response to Gonzi, who claimed Malta’s economic problems had nothing to do with the local economic scenario, Farrugia was categorical about Gonzi’s logic:
“Either because badly advised or perhaps insufficiently knowledgeable on economic matters, political leaders at times utter statements which certainly do not go down well with economists and tend to confuse the public.”
Special note was made by the economist of Gonzi’s own declaration in the Budget speech: “In ensuring a reduction of government expenditure this year in comparison with last year’s total, the government sacrificed an element of growth in the economy and, hence, at a political price.”
Leaving no stone unturned, Farrugia pointed out a mistake made by the Opposition who “criticising our poor growth performance, lamented that the little that we achieved was not even enough to make good for inflation, ignoring the fact that growth figures would already have factored in the relative inflation for that period.”
This lack of “statistical seriousness” only serves to dent Malta’s credibility with the EU as of late the projected growth rates, as well as the historical ones had been butchered by Eurostat and other EU authorities. Stipends, public healthcare, rent reforms and pensions were also mentioned as topics that were under the spotlight.
Turning to golf, the Prime Minister also spoke of the need to “bite the bullet even if it might taste sour.” He reasoned that if the same arguments advocated by all the anti-golf organisations were applied across the board in tourism, “then with the same argument we should close down the five star hotels as they ruin our coastline.”
He gleefully disclosed that due to the eco-contribution government managed to achieve a change in culture as this year 20 million less plastic bags were imported. Clearly annoyed at the comments uttered through talk show programmes and letters to the editor by the public, Gonzi denied that roads restructuring took place as a consequence of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Malta.
mmuscat@mediatoday.com.mt
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