Whoever gave the impression some time before the presentation of the Budget that the minister’s speech was going to be much shorter than usual must have been daydreaming for it was also agonisingly long, leaving most yawning for a break.

Immediately described as positive by most, for the raft of measures the Government is introducing, it became quickly clear to all that it is essentially an election Budget. With the euro parliamentary elections due in May well in mind, the Government sought to make the Budget attractive to as wide an audience as possible, though it could hardly escape the reality of the economic situation.

It did not resort to a robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul exercise, as some finance ministers are prone to do. Instead, the Government very craftily devised a kind of a giving-and-taking away strategy that may not have sunk in immediately but it is now, even though, to be fair, there are quite a number of really positive measures, particularly those aimed at raising the employment rate.

The Government may have not introduced new taxes but it is raising the tax burden to an extent. Never mind the rise in the excise tax on cigarettes and alcohol which, as is common knowledge, are usually prime targets for any finance minister when a government needs to raise easy additional revenue.

But, almost by stealth, the Government is also raising the car licence fee by €10 a year. ‘Almost by stealth’ because it took time for the fact to be extracted from the Budget document.

Former Finance Minister Tonio Fenech was on the ball during this week’s Times Talk on television when he said that revenue from various licences and permits alone would rise by almost as much as the cut in power tariffs. Others argue it will actually be much more. The hefty rise in funds the Government will be collecting from car licences will not be coming from economic growth but directly from the pockets of the car owners.

Revenue lost through the cut in income tax has to be raised from somewhere, unless this is made up by extra revenue generated through economic growth, which is not the case yet because, otherwise, the Government would not have resorted to increasing the indirect tax burden.

Selling citizenship to wealthy people wanting, for one reason or another, to have a passport that makes it easier for them to travel freely across the Schengen-area may turn out to be an attractive financial morsel to the finance minister in these difficult financial times. However, the amount expected to be raised from the cheap sale of citizenship will hardly be enough in its attempts to balance the books. It is preferable to look for firmer new lines of business to boost economic growth.

As the European Union breathes down Malta’s neck to ensure that it conforms to established deficit rules, a goal that has yet to be reached, the Government is expected to exercise greater financial discipline all round. But, as it goes about launching its spending reviews, it first ought to have a close look at its own structure. Is it necessary, for example, for such a tiny country to have such a big Cabinet and such big ministerial secretariats?

Governments have to lead by example and the example this Government is giving does not always conform to what it preaches.

It would also seem that quangos and new appointments to friends of friends are proliferating.