Sunday, 26th October 2008 - 13:12CET
Postponing the tariffs means postponing the problem - Fenech
Tourism to get additional funding
The budget would include increased funding for tourism.
Postponing the revision of the utility tariffs to March would merely by shifting the problem to the future, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said today.
He was reacting to an appeal made by the social partners on Friday for the government to put off the decision to early next year so as to allow more time for consultations.
Mr Fenech said when speaking at a political conference that the proposed tariffs were based on the prices which Enemalta had already paid for the oil Malta would use this year and a good part of next year.
The finance minister said the forthcoming budget would see an increase in the funds allocated for tourism, mostly for marketing.
The budget, he said, would have to respond to the reality that economies abroad had slowed down and this would impact on Malta, including on tourism.
Figures issued last week by the National Statistics Office showed a drop in arrivals in September - particularly from the UK, Malta's most important market.
Operators have expressed concern that the situation will get worse, since the UK economy is heading towards recession and Sterling has weakened considerably.
Mr Fenech said that the challenge which the government faced was to bringing about economic growth at a time when international economies were shrinking. The response should be investment, not subsidies.
Among other things, the government would be investing in power generation at Delimara and a submarine cable to link up to the European grid, enabling Malta to buy cheaper electricity. Malta would also be investing in alternative sources of energy.
He said the budget could not ignore the difficult circumstances the world was experiencing, a situation which was different from the scenario early this year. Although the clouds had been on the horizon at the time of the general election, this had turned to rain, he said, and it was impossible to think this would not affect Malta, directly or indirectly.
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Comments
labour in the late 90 got the bull by the horns but your PN elected government let it loose. It fed for ten years and became a monster. Now it is not the Pn that is governing this country but the monster the PN created that is governing them. This has put them in a franzy of panic and first they hedge badly and now they are going to ruin what is left of the economy.
...Of course Tonio. I would say that the clouds have turned to ACID RAIN or RAIN OF BOULDERS now! But then, during election time, we were led to believe (with a smile on Gonzi's face to boot) that we were never having it so good and that we were promised imminent heavenly prosperity!
Not now though, there are still 5 years of going down the dark hole to nowhere and we have to get real. Postponement is no option now (after 20 years of PN government). Mind you, I am not saying we have other political options seeing the lethargy of the so-called opposition.
What is need is the people showing the incumbents what they think and take to the streets. Look at Italy, Greece, Poland, Spain and other countries. They have citizens with resolve. It is, however, unlikely to happen here knowing the lack of resolve of the Maltese. That is why Tonio does what he says and mows over all of us!
This is what the Nationalist Government is going to do to the Maltese people and the economy.
Subsidies need to be abolished from all government agencies if we do not want to see our county sick with debts.
The safety net should be adjusted only for those declared most vulnerable and not for all across the board!