Budget measures should start being implemented immediately - Forum

The projects, schemes and incentives proposed by the government in the budget should be implemented in the shortest time possible to regenerate the economy, the Forum Unions Maltin said in a statement.

It said that €31 million the Malta Tourism Authority was being allocated to continue promoting tourism should be used wisely and not given as a subsidy which put local operators at a disadvantage.

Water and electricity tariffs and the price of gas were hindering competitiveness and burdening families and pensioners and the government’s decision to compensate families did not reflect the current government’s policy of helping most those who wasted the least.

While the Forum agreed that the government should fight social service abuse, it expected the squandering of pubic funds to be controlled and fiscal evasion to be attacked more seriously.

The removal of the Mepa subsidy would be placing burdens on first time home buyers so the Forum called on the government to come up with some form of assistance for these people.

The incentives the government was proposing, if implemented, it said, would bear results in the long-term future. The budget did not offer solutions for the immediate future so workers’ standard of living and spending power were not expected to improve.

The Forum again asked for space on the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development so that it would also be able to take part in social dialogue.