Malta can overcome because of ‘prudent leadership’ - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that despite the ongoing world financial crisis, an encouraging message should be delivered to the Maltese people.

“With prudent and serious leadership over the last three years, Malta has continued to progress in several sectors,” Gonzi said.

During an interview pre-recorded on Friday on Radio 101, Gonzi said that the 2012 Budget based on principles of prudence.

“On the other hand, the Labour Party never mentioned anything regarding the international turmoil because it is not in their interest to do so. This is because Malta’s achievements would be revealed. The PL continues to play a dangerous political game regarding the matter of electricity and water bills and they have not realised it is a dangerous game,” Gonzi said.

The deficit was once again a focal point for discussion but Gonzi said that many countries, again like Greece, were facing financial turmoil due to not managing government finances responsibly before the crisis hit.

“Until I was actually in the centre of it as Prime Minister, I did not truly understand the concept of deficit and its importance. I can only appreciate it now but I believe there are still many who, like me, do not truly understand the concept. Deficit basically results from spending more than you actually earn,” Gonzi said.

The government has long had the goal to reach a balance in the last seven budgets to decrease the deficit and was managing during the last four years until the 2009 economic crisis hit.

“It was thanks to the prudent leadership over the previous years that the government was able to launch incentives and save thousands of jobs even though this meant the deficit once again increased. The government has now managed to decrease the deficit below 3% for 2011 and will continue to decrease it to 2.3% next year,” Gonzi said.

This fact was crucial to attract investors to Malta because it displays financial stability and increases trust in the country.

Referring to employment, Gonzi was proud to say that when compared with other EU member states, Malta recorded the highest number of people who felt secure in their jobs.

“Eurostat statistics showed that 90% of Maltese workers felt positive regarding their job security. Up until November, NSO figures showed that almost 150 thousand were in full-time gainful employment and 70% of these are with the private sector,” Gonzi said.

Gonzi added that these were positive figures for Malta because one of the main problems faced by countries, like Greece, is that they have a very big public sector.

The Prime Minister also emphasised that the important measures proposed in the budget were based on two main pillars in Maltese society.

“Measures favouring small enterprises such as Microinvest, Microcredit and the new Microguarantee scheme are new incentives for the economy and investments. But while the economy is import, the second pillar of our budget was family,” Gonzi said.

Gonzi discussed the various measures proposed to sustain the family with a new tax band for parents, assistance for parents sending their children to private schools and an increase in the minimum rate of children’s allowance.

The extension of maternity leave and the payment of additional weeks by the government at minimum rate were also discussed by the Prime Minister who said that no other country pays maternity leave at full pay and it will just be the last couple of weeks which will be reduced.

Gonzi also celebrated the fact that the elderly will also be benefiting from the new budget with an allowance being paid to those over the age of 80 to continue living in their community instead of in an elderly home.