Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi promised this would not be a vote-catching budget. However, he must surely have known that certain burdens, especially of the taxation kind, needed to be eased as quickly as possible and irrespective of whether the people are in election mode or not.
One can safely say that the 2007 Budget does just that. It seeks to strike a fine balance, even if it has to do some tight-rope walking in the process.
The aim of the government in presenting this budget must have been, as The Times augured editorially yesterday, to lay the ground so that the country can register more progress all round in the coming financial year. Thus, Dr Gonzi, both as Prime Minister and as Minister of Finance, is justified in describing it as a "good governance budget".
The 2007 Budget introduces a number of fiscal and other measures that should prove beneficial both from an economic and popular perspective, the more salient of course being the modification of the tax bands.
The measures may not be as sensational or as far-reaching as the expectations raised by the Labour Party in recent days. But, as a result, the country and the people will be reaping the fruit of the budget, rather than counting their losses for the next 12 months. A nasty hangover would have been the only result of the MLP's wish-list seeing the light of day.
It is, of course, very easy for a party in opposition to promise the world, only to fall flat on its face once in power, as the MLP led by Alfred Sant did in just 22 months between 1996 and 1998.
The government had initially calculated it would have some Lm8 million to spare to give back to the people. However, it has now transpired that the measures announced yesterday will cost Lm12 million - because the financial results since the pre-budget document was drafted back in June have been better than expected.
These sound returns have been gained notwithstanding the reining in the Exchequer has had to do to keep the deficit in check and to put the government's finances in order.
Inflation is still an open wound and the government must tread carefully if its target for Malta to join the eurozone by January 1, 2008, is to be reached. Yet, as the financial authorities, especially the Governor of the Central Bank, have been preaching all along, this does not depend on the government alone. Restraint and discipline has to be exercised all round - including in price setting - but this is something that no budget alone can secure.
The measures contained in the 2007 Budget should serve as an effective tool and a good opportunity for the government to get all stakeholders - including, of course, the public - on board, take them in its confidence and set with them clear, attainable targets that will justify the sacrifices they have made. It is comforting, rather than merely consoling, that gain will be much bigger than the pain.
Although it now seems almost certain that another budget will be presented before the next general election - which must be held by August 2008 - the government in the coming year will increasingly be under pressure to launch initiatives and take measures that are vote-catchers. The temptation to do this, however, must be avoided at all costs - by exercising the same restraint, prudence and foresight that was displayed by the government in drawing up the 2007 Budget.