Budget tackling crisis while investing in future - Finance Minister

The budget is tackling the industrial crisis while aiding the country to reach its 2015 vision through investment in the future, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said this evening.

Closing the budget debate on his ministry, he said that all Nationalist governments had reduced Income Tax, contrary to Labour governments, which all increased it.

The opposition was now criticising the government for not yet reducing income tax.

The government actually reduced this tax in the first budget but the government would have been irresponsible had it not changed its strategy for the sake of employment.

Labour could have now understood the theory behind income tax reduction but not when to apply it.

The government had kept a substantial part of its promise and people were already saving hundreds of euros as a result.

Mr Fenech pointed out that the international financial crisis had impacted government income. This was the case in all EU countries. None had reached their aims and the deficit of all had exploded. Malta’s and Estonia’s were the only countries which managed to reduce their deficit.

It was not a balanced budget and the government had not aimed for this because this would have made it an irresponsible government as it would have had to crush the people with taxes.

He said that to revive the economy in times of uncertainty there had to be investment. Each and every economist believed so. It was projects which created employment.

The government, Mr Fenech said, had aided the creation of employment through investment. He pointed out that Cyprus, which Labour leader Joseph Muscat mentioned so much during his speech, was considering the introduction of a tax on food and medicine.