Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday branded the Budget as one lacking a clear economic vision and socially unjust as it failed to distribute wealth in a fair manner.

In his first reaction following the four-hour long Budget speech, Dr Busuttil branded the 58c weekly wage increase to compensate for the increase in the cost of living as “ridiculous”.

“In the case of students this was more of an insult as they were given a daily increase of 2c, weeks after a sharp increase in examination fees,” he said.

People will have less money in their pockets

He added that the €35 bonus was not enough to support low-income families and pointed out that not everyone would be getting the allowance but only those who would not benefit from the income tax reduction.

He lashed out at the government for the increases in excise duty on several products and indirect taxation like vehicle licences.

“At the end of the day, people will be left with less money in their pockets,” he said.

Dr Busuttil pointed out that the drop in fuel prices still did not reflect the sharp decline in international oil prices.

From an economic perspective, he criticised the Budget which, he said, lacked initiatives to diversify the economy and for the absence of any measures to safeguard the manufacturing sector and create jobs.

“The finance minister has also failed to give any deadlines on the new gas power station which was set to be operational next March,” Dr Busuttil said.

He jokingly remarked that the government was getting into the habit of missing its own timeframes as even the finance minister had failed to deliver his speech within the two-hour deadline.