Although the Government said it wanted Malta to be the best in the Europe there was nothing in the Budget to indicate how this would be achieved, the Opposition spokesman for investment, Mario de Marco, said yesterday.

Introducing his no-confidence motion in Investment Minister Chris Cardona, Dr de Marco said the worst legacy the Government would leave would be the citizenship scheme together with more uncertainty and higher unemployment.

The recurrent vote for Malta Enterprise had been slashed and there were no new schemes for manufacturing, tourism or the creative industry, which had been completely neglected.

It was significant that the second item on the list of incentives was the selling of citizenship but if the scheme could help the country’s finances it would not benefit the economy because it was not tied with any form of investment or finan-cial contributions.

While the Budget had its good points, it did not acknowledge the factors that kept the nation going through the worse times. Reducing utility bills alone would not bring diversification and economic growth.

Indirect taxes were increased to €72 million in licences and VAT, which would be borne by Maltese citizens. Revenue was not being boosted through economic growth. While it was true that the reduction of bills would put more money in people’s pockets, giving them more spending power and helping to turn the wheels of the economy, the slowdown had already started and uncertainty could be felt. Dr de Marco said it was a shame that the savings made from Enemalta were not being passed on to the industrial sector immediately, which was how work was generated.

The Minister of Finance himself had said that 5,000 new jobs were needed each year because more young people, women and pensioners were being given incentives to enter the workforce.

Opposition finance spokesman Tonio Fenech said the Budget estimates were not a good accounting exercise because certain figures such as expenditure to incentivise people to enter the employment world were not featured.

The European Commission said that economic growth should be 1.9 per cent while the Government argued that economic activity would increase by 1.7 per cent.

The Nationalist government had created the online gaming sector that contributed €50 million. This sum did not include the taxes paid by 7,000 employees, who were foreigners in their majority, and who did not require a Maltese citizenship to work here.