Aim is surplus as PN pledges cost €1.1bn
The Nationalist Party’s electoral proposals would cost €1.1 billion over the next legislature but it is still aiming to end it with a surplus of over €100 million.
Giving a detailed explanation of the cost of his party’s 125 proposed measures, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said the PN wanted to make sure it presented a “responsible” and “realistic” electoral programme.
This would offer the electorate a leap in quality while keeping the country’s finances on a sound footing and moving towards a balanced budget, as mandated by the EU.
“We told you that ours is a realistic programme and we are now giving you the details on how much each of our proposed measures will cost,” he said, adding this was the first such exercise in Malta’s political history.
“We are showing how we can continue to move forward while reaching our balanced budget objectives. Labour is promising everything to everyone but it will also be driving the country’s finances into a concrete wall.”
The PN’s projections are based on what the minister said was conservative economic growth assumptions of between 2.3 and 3.6 per cent in GDP over a five-year period, up to 2017.
Apart from the increased revenue generated through economic growth, the Government was also planning an expenditure review that would cut costs across government by two per cent.
It was also planning stronger measures against tax evasion, Mr Fenech said.
The 125 measures would increase the Government’s recurrent and capital expenditure by €1,113 million between 2014 and 2017.
The Budget 2013 was not taken into account and this figure does not factor in EU funding.
Still, the target is to attain a balanced budget by 2015/2016 and of ending the legislature with a surplus of €108 million (see table).
If this target is reached, it will be the first time in more than 30 years that Malta will have managed to balance its budget.
At the same time, said Minister Fenech, the Government was also planning to further reduce the island’s debt, which stands at 72 per cent of GDP, to around 60 per cent by 2017.
The workings presented by Mr Fenech show that the PN’s electoral pledges would mainly entail a rise in capital expenditure, of €603 million.
The biggest investment would be in education, with an additional €100 million spent on new campuses at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology and Institute for Tourism Studies, and €40 million more invested in capital projects at the University.
The party’s tablet-for-all-pupils initiative would cost the government €16 million and €24 million would be dedicated to the building of five new schools.
There would be major capital injections in PV schemes for residences (€55 million), new projects in Valletta (€34 million), the building of new roads (€60 million) and in health (€41 million).
In healthcare, the major capital outlay would go towards the development of three regional health hubs, which Health Minister Joe Cassar said would serve as mini-hospitals offering even small-scale surgery.
The PN’s measures would also increase recurrent expenditure by €476 million.
Another reform in the income tax bands would be among the costliest of the proposals, leaving an additional €60 million in taxpayers’ pockets over the course of the legislature.
The reimbursement scheme for out-of-stock medicines would cost €78 million, free childcare vouchers €25 million, the abolition of discrimination in service pensions €30 million and an increase of 200 officers in the police force to serve on the beat would cost the treasury €20 million.
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Carmel Zammit
Jan 30th, 19:08
Tonio Fenech need not tell us how realistic his plans are we have had enough experience of his realism. Missed deficit targets, missed balanced budget targets, cost overruns, borrowing-based extravagance leading to an uncontrollable debt mountain, highest utility bills ever, two downgrades putting Malta just 2 notches above junk and hidden agendas to mention but a few.
Charles Massa
Jan 30th, 18:38
Sur prim ministru, mhux qieghed tara li l poplu ma ghadux beccun u mhux se jemnek
Pav Elliot
Jan 30th, 18:29
TF never had a very good aim, missing each and every target that he set!!
Besides, when the PN apologists don't come out in force to defend of the once great PN, you can tell that the party has gone way over itself! JPO said it all!
One day it will be great once again, with the likes of the present administration having flown the coop, making way for a real pro to sort out the mess.
Louis Craus
Jan 30th, 16:11
Dawn il- flus minn fejn ser igibhom il- Gvern? Kemm. kif, meta, ?
Mur emmnu ?
Nazzareno Cortis
Jan 30th, 15:55
Come on will you??
We have past experience of your promises!!
Keep on promising--perhaps there are still fools who might beleive you!!
During 5 year reign,you forgot all about people!
Coming election time--you wake up---and realise that you need people's votes.
So start the same tricks which used to give fruit before poast elections!
Promising the impossible-such as the surplus instead of deficit!
Lawrence Fenech
Jan 30th, 15:47
Gonz the only surplus I know of is 500 euros per week in your pocket and still there.
John L Galea
Jan 30th, 14:08
Yes the surplus should have been in 2010. GonziPN's track record is of failure in budget aims. Why should we believe his fairy tales now?
Joe Grech
Jan 30th, 11:27
''The party’s tablet-for-all-pupils initiative would cost the government €16 million and €24 million would be dedicated to the building of five new schools.''
Prime Minister why not teach pupils to read and write first? Tablets will only distract further. Illiteracy is rampant in all the educational sectors....thanks to incompetence by Dolores Cristina and her so called Consultants!
Joe Grech
Jan 30th, 11:20
''the major capital outlay would go towards the development of three regional health hubs, which Health Minister Joe Cassar said would serve as mini-hospitals offering even small-scale surgery.''
If this is not an admission that GonziPN failed in Healthcare, then what is? Lousy Planning, Incompetent Administration, Overspending....
Mario Camilleri
Jan 30th, 10:34
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. This is a recycled promise from 2008 which they failed. We shall judge this administration on it's past not on the futuristic proposals. As in an exam, it comes after a year or more studies' and at the end it's the end result that counts. Therefore it's useless crying over spilled milk. One should keep in mind that Gonzi has been in office since 2004.
Joseph E Briffa
Jan 30th, 10:29
It's no use Labour saying that figures are too optimistic; anyone can say that but it's another matter proving their statements. Let's see Labour's figures first. Where is Labour's 5-year plan? Labour's proposals are disjointed and there is no coherent plan for the coming 5 years. They come out with something new everyday, promising everything to everyone. People want to see the whole picture.
Joe Bonanno
Jan 30th, 16:16
As if the PN has rock solid credentials regarding fiscal responsibility. The PN has NEVER balanced a single budget, let alone a surplus one. You can massage figures to reflect any outcome you want. Now, a realistic forcast is a different kettle of fish. Any sane person will simply look at the PN's past record of failures and take this document for what it is, desperate pre-electoral blather.
Michael Sammut
Jan 30th, 09:57
How do we believe this debt reduction promise, when all this government has been about is increasing debt like there is no tomorrow? As far as I am concerned the chance to show one's true colours has come and gone. No empty promises now will change real track record. Actions speak louder than words. I believe it was the PM who said judge me not by my words but by my actions So it is.
Godfrey Pisani
Jan 30th, 07:41
Do they know that they are playing with people's lives here !
Frans Aguis
Jan 29th, 21:52
"economic growth assumptions of between 2.3 and 3.6 per cent in GDP over a five-year period"
How can they be taken seriously with such a wide gap! And when have the PN projection ever been conservative.I recall the EU telling the PN gov to cu 40 million from the budget because their projection were far to optimistic!!!
Anthony Paris
Jan 29th, 20:28
This is another plan that is not worth the paper it is written on. Anyone can make up the numbers to show a surplus in 5 years' time. One asumption is over 5% GDP growth. What chances does Malta's GDP have to grow by 5%?
Please choose the reason of your report below: