The Budget offered no solutions or mitigating measures for thousands of commuters facing daily ordeals in heavily-congested roads, the Nationalist Party said yesterday.

Instead, Nationalist Party finance spokesman Tonio Fenech said car owners were left counting the costs of higher vehicle licence fees, insurance and excise duty on fuel.

He reiterated the criticism levelled by the Opposition leader that the Budget lacked economic vision and was socially unjust.

“Rather than addressing the increase in traffic, the government has treated this sector as an additional source of revenue,” Mr Fenech remarked.

He recalled that before the election the Labour Party had pledged cheaper fuel prices and not just stability for its own sake.

He described the Budget as “a four-hour exercise on how to hide tax hikes from the public”.

Mr Fenech noted that no measures were announced for the manufacturing sector in the wake of Malta’s biggest drop in exports within the EU since the start of the year. Proposals made recently by the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry were completely overlooked.

He criticised the allocation for the Malta Tourism Authority saying the marketing budget was not increased.

He was critical of the decision to reintroduce VAT registration for individuals earning less than €7,000 a year from their private business. “This measure contradicts the government’s pledge to cut red tape as it will only help to discourage small businesses.”

Asked whether he saw any positive measures in the Budget, Mr Fenech referred to the Jobs Plus initiatives to encourage people on the unemployment register to find a job. He noted that such proposals had been floated by Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin whereas the government’s road map was nowhere to be seen.

Regarding the government’s efforts to crackdown on social benefit abuse, Mr Fenech expressed hope these would yield the desired results as none of the authorities in charge of enforcement had been strengthened.

He lamented that people were once again left in the dark on the time frames of the construction of a new power station and the agreement with Shanghai Power Electric to buy a minority stake in Enemalta.

Turning to public finances, he expressed concern that for the first time debt would reach 70 per cent of the gross domestic product.

The Labour Party took umbrage at Mr Fenech’s criticism, insisting that the people still remembered his budgets that were rife with higher electricity rates, a high cost-of-living and higher fuel prices.

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