Prudent and responsible

"Prudent and responsible" is how the Union Haddiema Maghqudin described the budget last night.

"It is a budget that encourages job creation and further investment," it said.

Contacted by The Times, Gejtu Vella, the union's general secretary, said the revision of the tax bands showed the government was taking the country's competitiveness seriously.

"The tax reform will boost the workers' purchasing power," he said.

The UHM said it was satisfied to note that a number of recommendations and proposals it had made had been included in the budget, which consolidated the country's financial situation. Funds being received from the EU were also having a positive impact.

The union praised the measure that provides training and practical work to those who have been registering as unemployed for a number of years, saying this would not only help these persons but also tackle abuse.

The Lm1.50 cost-of-living increase would help reduce the impact of price increases resulting from the higher cost of fuel and cereals.

The UHM also welcomed the changes in income tax bands, improvements in the children's allowance, the granting of the full cost-of-living increase to pensioners and the measure allowing pensioners to continue working without losing their pension.

Apart from this, investment in favour of the environment was notable and incentives to encourage the use of cleaner sources of energy were commendable.

The UHM, however, said it had expected family-friendly policies to also be introduced in the private sector.

While it agreed with the way consultation on the budget had been widened, it believed that it should have been better structured.