Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today that the situation where Malta was spending €550,000 every day on debt serving costs needed to be tackled through serious and competent administration of public funds, because that money could be far better used on education, the infrastructure and living standards.
Dr Muscat was speaking in an interview on One Radio this morning.
He said the PL would not make promises it could not keep, as Dr Gonzi had done when he promised to reduce taxes significantly from the first Budget. A Labour government would aim for sustainable deficit reduction married to economic growth in order to make that sustainable.
It would also ensure that public funds were administered in a serious manner by people who were competent in this sector.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
Earlier in his interview, Dr Muscat looked ahead to the local councils election in half of Malta's localities in March.
He said there were good and not-so-good local councils headed by both the PN and the PL. The Labour Party would be honest and would propose change where change was needed, he said. Local councils should be there to help the people, and they should not be an extension of the central government and its bureaucracy, he insisted.
The party, he said, would present a mix of experience and enthusiasm and it would not shirk from asking some of its own councillors not to stand if it considered their performance as being disappointing.
LIBYA
Replying to a question on the situation in Libya, Dr Muscat said he was happy for the Libyan people. He said the humanitarian aid being funnelled to Libya through Malta was a good point of departure for new economic relations with Libya and he hoped that the Maltese people would not waste their time on useless exchanges on the past.
The PL agreed that Malta should not tolerate any activities in Malta that could destabilise Libya or the region.
He said the PL wanted consensus on Malta's relations with Libya in the national interest. He also augured that work would be done in the next few months for Malta to acquire its rights (in what was seen as being a reference to oil exploration rights).
UTILITY PRICES
Dr Muscat said it was worrying how many family were seeing their purchasing power drop and could not make ends meet. The government was the main cause of rising costs, through the water and electricity bills, and a new Labour government would therefore reduce the bills.
Former minister John Dalli himself had pointed to methods how costs in the electricity system would be eased, but even this proposal had been ignored by the government.
The Labour leader said price movement involving gas and other products was erratic and did not always follow international movements.
Also worrying were the price levels of food in Malta, something which needed to be urgently addressed. Unfortunately, the setting up of the new Consumer Agency had not led to any progress to protect consumers in this field.
The current cost of living mechanism provided for compensation of between €3 and €5 in salaries at the next budget, Dr Muscat said. But that only covered prices which rose in the past. What was urgently needed for the cost of living to be reined in for the future.
Dr Muscat observed that while Dr Gonzi had told the US Ambassador that he was not happy with the pool of MPs from which he could select his ministers, that had not stopped him from granting the ministers a raise of €500 per week.
PN REACTION
In a reaction, the PN said that Dr Muscat was living in a world of make believe and was totally oblivious to what is happening abroad.
"European governments are riding roughshod over their citizens, raising taxes and slashed social benefits to avoid financial and economic collapse. What a stark difference from the local situation. Only this week, Eurostat, confirmed that Malta has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU; recent figures by the NSO confirm rising employment and foreign direct investment in Malta. Of course, much more needs to be done; certainly, fiscal consolidation remains a top priority as is the creation of new jobs. However, we should be proud of our achievements," the PN said.
"It is thanks to no lucky star that Malta is not in the same disastrous situation of countries like Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal – sound economic policies by the Gonzi administration, coupled with a dynamic and resilient workforce, is the cause of our success."
The PN noted that in his 2011 Budget speech Dr Muscat suggested that Malta should adopt Cyprus as its economic model – now Cyprus was taking some very harsh austerity measure to avoid the financial meltdown experienced by Greece, Spain and the Irish economy.
The PN said Dr Muscat failed to explain how he would create jobs, attract investment and reduce the utility costs.