To an economist, it is refreshing to hear the Minister of Finance (de facto also Minister for the Economy) reassuring everyone that the country managed to overcome completely what could have easily crippled our thriving financial services sector in the wake of the Cyprus crisis.

He is also that the economy as a whole is reasonably in good shape despite the many doomsayers and worrywarts found all over Europe.

This time, fortunately, local sceptics like me would tend to accept the minister’s views once there is no impending general election that might tempt an incumbent to paint a rosier picture than reality.

If the eventual 3.3 per cent of GDP deficit for 2012 had been correctly forecast as late as November, we might well have escaped the re-opening of the excessive deficit procedure after only a few weeks from its closure and with a new Administration determined to be more transparent with its finances.

Instead, the European Commission harboured a reservation or two but without specifically imposing a cut in expenditure as it had previously done and thus exempting us from anything that could be akin to austerity.

It is with the revenue part of the Budget that the Commission has doubts. That’s why it is projecting a higher deficit for this year than the Government’s own target and that’s why it was quite generous in allowing us an extra year to bring it down to below its three per cent ceiling.

For this reason, and others, I urge the minister to postpone, until we achieve the ‘golden rule’ of a balanced Budget, the proposal to reduce the 35 per cent standard rate of income tax to personal earners of under €60,000 annually (leaving out corporate SMEs).

Unlike a mini-Budget, this would certainly send no shocks or vibes to the economy, nor would it put the skids under export-oriented foreign investment (which we so desperately need) that already enjoys a five per cent tax rate.

It would show up the minister as fiscally prudent.

After all, ours is not a gold-plated economy.