Budget of a two-faced government

Labour leader Joseph Muscat slammed yesterday's budget as the product of a two-faced government.

He conceded that there were positive measures in it but stressed that the government had promised one thing and delivered something different.

He called government "irresponsible" for having failed to reach its own targets and accused it of "first cutting off people's feet and then trying to give them shoes".

Dr Muscat said although incentives to switch to alternative energy were positive, only few would benefit from them while everyone would have to pay higher electricity bills.

He also criticised the new tax on petrol and diesel, describing it as an excuse for government to increase revenue to make up for its bad decisions at a time when other European governments were trying to reduce the cost of fuel. The overhauled car registration tax would also put more money in the government's coffers, he said.

The revised tax bands were described as cosmetic and a "far cry" from what was promised before the election. Together with the €4.08 weekly cost of living adjustment, the effect of the income tax revision would be completely reversed by the increased water and electricity bills, with pensioners being the worst off.

The new rates, announced last week, had been completely omitted from the budget and Dr Muscat asked whether the government was embarrassed by them or was trying to make people forget. He criticised it for not heeding the unions' calls for adequate compensation.

He said a Labour government would never have introduced these utility tariffs but would have pumped more money into the economy and "courageously" lowered taxes.

Asked which taxes he would have removed and how he would have made up for the lost revenue, Dr Muscat said he would never have introduced the new tariffs in the prevailing circumstances.

"It is clear that these taxes are not due to the international oil prices but due to the inefficiencies that the government allowed to develop in the past 20 years."

Dr Muscat said the government had nothing else but its incompetence to blame for the current situation and its failed aims of a balanced budget by 2010. He pointed out that the deficit had tripled from the original estimate and national debt had doubled.

Referring to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi's description of this budget as one of a series of five leading to another PN electoral victory, Dr Muscat said a serious government does not look at a budget as a means to win elections.

Dr Muscat said positive measures included the "overdue" environmental measures, incentives for women to return to the workforce and the removal of succession tax on residences for people with a disability.