The Budget jury gives its verdict

Therese Fenech Azzopardi, 66

Mrs Fenech Azzopardi is the owner, and also director, of a clothes shop in Valletta and earns between €22,001 and €35,000.

She is a widow and has two children who are both married. Mrs Fenech Azzopardi lives in a seafront apartment on the Strand in Sliema and drives a Fiat 600.

She feels that Budget 2011 is a “positive” and “clean” budget which reflects the government’s long-term plans to reduce the deficit.

“I liked certain measures such as the scrapping fee as it will incentivise people to have cleaner cars,” she said.

However, she pointed out that the weekly cost-of-living allowance of €1.16 was measly especially since prices were constantly on the rise.

She also praised the government’s commitment to continue investing in and restoring Valletta but complained that the Budget did not tackle the problem of accessibility.

“People are finding it very difficult to come in and this problem needs to be tackled as Valletta is a commercial city full of businesses.” The Park and Ride system was not enough and Valletta, as a commercial centre, needed to be open to consumers.

Overall, Mrs Fenech Azzopardi said, it was a far-reaching Budget that was very positive compared to the financial difficulties other countries were facing. “Not everything is perfect but we don’t have much to complain about.”

Even though there were a number of taxes – such as the increase in excise duty on spirits and cigarettes – Mrs Fenech Azzopardi pointed out that, among other things, there was also going to be a heavy investment in education.

“I really liked that measure – the government is giving a lot of importance to education which is the foundation of our society and it’s an investment for our children,” she said.

Also, even though the price of fuel has gone up by 3c a litre, Mrs Fenech Azzopardi pointed out that other countries were imposing much higher taxes on fuel – especially since oil cost around $82.5 a barrel.

It was a far-reaching Budget where the government did the best it could, she said.

Pensioner

Paul Spiteri, 63

Paul Spiteri, 63, is married and has two children, aged 34 and 30, who are also married. He owns one car and lives in a house in Qormi.

Mr Spiteri is a former civil servant and used to work as an executive officer with the Health Department. When he resigned in 2008, he used to earn €14,900 a year.

He considers the Budget to be “reasonable for today’s day and age”, pointing out that no taxes have been introduced, barring those on cigarettes, fuel, cement and alcohol, which would not really have an impact, not even on him.

“This means that if people work and do their part, the Budget can be considered good,” Mr Spiteri said, pointing out that it was only the fuel increase that could affect him minimally.

His only reservation was the water and electricity tariffs and he felt the government could have introduced incentives to ensure people paid their bills fast and Enemalta could have more money in hand.

Pensioners will again benefit from the full cost-of-living adjustment, this year amounting to €1.16 per week, without it affecting their eligibility for social benefits as it did in previous years, raising the ire of the National Association of Pensioners.

While this measure was considered good, Mr Spiteri said it did not affect him and his wife.

Mr Spiteri felt the Budget focused primarily on employment and training. As a pensioner, this was not part of his life anymore but he was still affected by the country’s productivity and the economy.

“At the end of the day, those who are against the government will complain and those who are in favour won’t. There will be people who will complain about the duty on cigarettes and alcohol and the rest.” But it was not a reason for grievance for Mr Spiteri.

The elderly will also benefit from more wards for dementia at St Vincent de Paul, another night shelter, and community care by a group of professionals once a pilot project kicks off in Msida. But again, at 63, Mr Spiteri is not yet at the stage where he can benefit from these services.

Environmentalist

Alfred Baldacchino, 64

Now a pensioner, Mr Baldacchino used to be an assistant director at the planning authority’s Environmental Protection Directorate and has a master’s degree in environmental management and planning.

He lives in an Attard maisonette with his wife with whom he has two children, now married. He drives a five-year-old Opel Corsa – “the cheapest possible on the market”, and his income falls in the €7,501 - €14,000 bracket.

Mr Baldacchino said although the environment was addressed, there were some disappointing inclusions or omissions and some were “worrying”. One such point was the announcement of the roads linking Mellieħa to the Red Tower and the Red Tower to Ċirkewwa. Apart from passing from “virgin natural environment, one of them has to pass through two Natura 2000 sites”.

He was also disappointed to see that the environmental deficit was not so strongly addressed. “No plans for the collection, management of runoff and protection of underground water; no management plans for Natura 2000 sites, either terrestrial or marine, no plans for job opportunities in the environment fields, no plans and measures for the negative impacts of climate change.”

He also saw as disappointing the fact that only slight importance was given to the economic opportunities in the environmental fields and only small limited incentives were given to photovoltaic panels and solar heaters.

“The Budget also ignores present economic burdens borne by society because of unsustainable mismanagement, such as in the field of water, particulate matter, disappearance of biodiversity and toxic waste, be it liquid or solid,” Mr Baldacchino said.

Mr Baldacchino said environmental investment was still minimal compared to other fields such as health, industry, education, infrastructure, development, commercial activity and economic gain.

He added this was a “clear indication” the environment was still regarded as being a mere appendix, “notwithstanding the fact that its mismanagement has such a great negative economic and social impact”.

Unemployed

Sam Ramage, 34

Mr Ramage is married and has two daughters who are 12 and 13 years old. Born to a Scottish father and Maltese mother, he and his family moved to Malta about four years ago. They live in an apartment in Floriana and he drives a Toyota Vitz.

A stock controller, he lost his job in June and since then has been receiving unemployment benefits and also children’s allowance since he has dual citizenship.

In this Budget, he would have liked to see more measures and programmes that would help the unemployed get back into the working world. Such measures, he said, should also be extended to people with disabilities.

While the training programme for people on minimum wage was a positive thing, it did not seem to apply to those who were unemployed.

It was positive that means-testing was being adjusted so the cost of living allowance would not automatically end up in a loss of benefits for those who were most vulnerable. However, one thing that had to be addressed was the low benefits given to people to help them pay rent and mortgages. At the moment these were way too low.

As for the increase of duty on fuel, by 3c per litre, Mr Ramage fears this would be a further financial burden to motorists. The price of fuel was already high and, in fact, at the moment he tried not to use his car to save money.

Although public transport in Malta was cheap and frequent, it was no secret it should be reformed. In fact, the ongoing reform was one of the measures listed in the Budget speech.

The increase in tax relief for parents who sent their children to private schools would not affect him because his daughters go to government schools as he believed in the quality of the education offered by the state.

While it would be great if the government focused more on making jobs available in the Budget one had to keep in mind that thousands of jobs were being lost in the UK where the cost of living was also higher.

Professional

Cervais Cishahayo, 52

Cervais Cishahayo is a geophysicist who works as a consultant and a teacher of IT and sciences. He is originally from Burundi and belongs to a dual earner family, with two incomes in the €14,000 - €22,000 bracket.

He has four children aged three, six, 16 and 20 and lives in a maisonette in Gżira. His oldest daughter lives abroad and the youngest two children go to school and playschool. His family owns two cars, a small Ford Ka and a larger Toyota Funcargo as a family car.

Mr Cishahayo likes to keep active in any field that can keep him healthy, not only physically but also mentally.

He said the Budget came as no surprise and one had to take into account the international economic crisis and the domestic economic situation.

Locally, the Budget could not afford any handouts, he said, and thought the measures had to be realistic. He did not think Malta was living in isolation with regard to the international financial situation, which he expected to be reflected in the Budget.

The measures, he said, would not affect him personally in any significant manner because they did not offer tax reduction or relief. “My net income will neither decrease nor increase.”

The geophysicist said he expected the Budget to encourage people to take up more part-time jobs as a single job was no longer enough for many. People are put off by part-time jobs because of the taxation system.

The Budget, however, did not tackle this, Mr Cishahayo said, pointing out that, although he too was tempted to take up another part-time job, the taxation system prevented him from doing so and it “just didn’t make any sense”.

This, in particular, was disappointing to Mr Cishahayo, who pointed out this was a real hurdle for those who wanted to earn extra money.

The current situation with taxation on part-time jobs was not financially viable, he said.

Housewife

Vania Tabone, 43

Vania Tabone and her husband of 21 years have three daughters aged 20, 17 and 11. The family lives in a house in San Ġwann. She has been a housewife since she had her first child but recently started studying and is now in her second year reading for her diploma in social studies, focusing on gender and development.

In line with her studies, one of the things that disappointed her about the Budget was that it did not mention gender equality.

It also avoided the subject of maternity leave that would ultimately encourage more women to re-enter the working world.

Positive measures in the Budget included the intention to increase the childcare centres although the introduction of after-school child minding services by local councils was left vague.

If women were to be encouraged to work and be mothers they needed the backing of a system that looked after their children after school during those hours that overlapped with work.

Fiscal measures aimed at encouraging women to work – mainly the option to pay 15 per cent on social security for the part-time self employed – were also positive.

However, she was disappointed to see no mention was made of domestic violence and that children were not given much attention in the Budget speech.

She would have also liked to see measures for housewives, like her, who years back stopped working to raise their family and did not pay enough national insurance to be eligible for a pension. Besides, housewives who looked after their elderly parents were not granted social benefits.

She pointed out that one had to keep in mind that housewives were financially dependent on their husbands.

If, like her, a housewife decided to go back to university to pursue her studies and re-enter the job market, some form of financial support would help. An example would be a subsidy on education-related materials such as books or photocopies.

Student

Joseph Caruana, 23

Mr Caruana is a fourth year university student reading for a Bachelor of Commerce in Public Policy. He doesn’t own a car and lives with his family in a Birkirkara maisonette. Even though he’s active in Greenhouse, a student organisation he helped found, he manages to find the time to supplement his stipend through two part-time jobs: one as a computer lab assistant and the other as a sales assistant in a stationery. He earns less than €7,500 a year.

“In general, the Budget looks like a balance between the EU’s demands and those of society so that the country can reach the deficit targets imposed by the European Commission,” Mr Caruana said.

“I don’t think I will be impacted directly by the Budget – I couldn’t see a better library or a more relevant course for my needs being mentioned, rather, I was just reminded of what was already being done.”

He was happy that the government was looking at economic stabilisation but he said that the Budget was very risk-averse and provided very little in the way of new ideas.

“We’re rehashing the same solutions for the old problems, we have the same approach, direct finance, and there are no new models of involvement with NGOs,” Mr Caruana said.

He also questioned the way private investment at the University would be introduced for courses requiring substantial capital: “One has to see the way in which the private sector interacts with the university and make sure that the University’s autonomy is not compromised.”

According to Mr Caruana, there are no effective measures to encourage longer-term research and development, or the development of alternative energy on a local level, and this Budget would definitely not help Malta reach the R&D targets set by the Lisbon Agenda.

He also lauded the government’s proposals to foster a culture of professionalism in sports, saying it was a step in the right direction. The establishment of three more farmers’ markets was also a good decision.

But ultimately, the public policy student sees the 2011 Budget as “a reactive Budget to the Commission which just reiterates the same ideas”

Worker

Josef Cachia, 28

Mr Cachia is a bachelor who works as a carpenter and lives with his parents in a maisonette in Ħamrun. He drives a Toyota.

According to him the Budget was all talk and no action, with electoral promises remaining unfulfilled.

“During the election campaign, (Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi) said he was going to decrease tax and national insurance but until now nothing has been done... I’m still waiting,” he said, adding he was disappointed that electoral promises remained unfulfilled.

The most important thing, he said, was the increase in fuel, which his industry struggled with because of machinery.

Moreover, the hefty water and electricity bills, which he felt were having an impact on the industry, remained unchanged.

The Budget, he said, did nothing to tackle this and, as a result, the industry would continue to suffer.

The incentives Dr Gonzi said he would be implementing did not affect him as an individual young person, Mr Cachia said.

“I have to work more and will earn less,” he said.

He said additional costs, without a corresponding reduction in tax and national insurance, would see him spending more with less money in his pocket at the end of the day, especially considering the rise in the cost of living.

The price of fuel will rise by 3c per litre with immediate effect while next year an obligation for motorists to use a proportion of renewable fuel when refilling their car will be imposed.

“To me the Budget has done nothing to improve my situation,” the young carpenter said.

Commenting on the increased duties on alcohol taxation, Mr Cachia said this could be viewed as a positive measure in fighting addiction and other alcohol-related problems.

However, Mr Cachia warned this could potentially leave a negative impact on the entertainment industry and other sectors, which were dependent on profits from alcohol, possibly leading to a loss in jobs.