Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said there was no reason for the Budget to be voted down since it was intended to improve the lives of families and keep the country’s finances sound.

“This Budget closes a legislature fraught with many difficulties due to the global and European financial and economic crisis which had a huge impact on the countries around us,” he told a press conference after the Finance Minister’s Budget speech.

While other countries were presenting austerity-driven budgets, Malta’s finances had just been given a clean bill of health, allowing it to invest in economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets.

Dr Gonzi refused to hypothesise on what would happen if the Budget is not approved in Parliament on December 10 but warned that its measures would in this case be put on hold.

He said the Government was in a position to responsibly fulfil its electoral pledge to reduce the income tax from 35 to 25 per cent, albeit within a staggered three-year period. This, he said, complemented the measures taken in the past few Budgets where income tax was progressively reduced.

Dr Gonzi said the Budget also strengthened the social net, increasing the children’s allowance especially for lower income earners.

“In other countries the economic deficit is turning into a social deficit,” said Dr Gonzi, but in Malta the economic successes were translating into social successes.

Dr Gonzi thanked all the social partners who helped improve the Budget with their proposals. He also thanked everyone who helped the Government manage the rough seas and enable it to close the legislature with successful finances.

Dr Gonzi used the press conference to make a passionate electoral pitch.

“The Nationalist Government has put all the cards on the table. Now, everyone knows our concrete proposals. This is the fruit of five years, a whole legislature which has now come to an end. That’s it. It is ready, we closed it.”

He said the people would soon have their chance to make their choice on whether the PN deserved another five years to implement these Budget measures and others.

“We have fulfilled the task we were given in 2008 as best we could. Perfect, we were not. We could have done things differently and better. But we definitely did many good things because the results speak for themselves...

“We should be pleased because in five years our small island managed to combat the challenges and even do better than other countries.”

Asked whether he would consider calling an election before March if the Budget was not approved, Dr Gonzi refused to speculate but promised to take responsible decisions following next month’s vote.