Employers have called on the government to postpone its target to balance the budget by a couple of years to avoid an economic slowdown.
The statement, which forms part of the budget proposals of the Malta Employers' Association (MEA), comes as social partners again formed a common front against the government's latest plans to increase electricity bills.
"Although it is recommended that the government should not abandon the target for a balanced budget during this legislature, the fact that inflation threatens to eat into people's purchasing power, in spite of the cost of living adjustment (Cola) mechanism, cannot be disregarded," the MEA said.
The association also asked the government to reduce corporate tax from 35 per cent to 30 per cent. It proposed the use of fiscal measures to widen the gap between wages and social benefits and insisted that more effort needs to be made to curb benefit fraud by having unemployed people do community work, for instance.
Cola increases should only be applicable to employees earning less than €160 a week as the adjustment can lead to wage increases that do not reflect productivity, MEA said.
University stipends should vary according to different courses to channel students to careers that were needed to improve Malta's economy.
MEA supports family-friendly measures that are cost neutral to employers, such as the diffusion of childcare centres.
Other proposals include addressing the uncertainty surrounding the revision of vehicle registration taxes; reducing administrative and bureaucratic burdens on small and medium enterprises and assisting them through the European Investment Bank; investigating how port charges can be reduced to improve competitiveness; and fine tuning the rent reform's recommendations for commercial rentals to reflect the complexities of the segment.
MEA outlined some environmental incentives adding that the government should have a national strategy to promote alternative energy.
The association also listed measures to upgrade tourism that include increasing funding for the upgrading of heritage sites.