Budget 2018 measures to remove exam fees, offer free public transport to youths aged 16 to 20 and provide more social housing were all positive but concerns in other areas remained, think tank Żminijietna said today.
In a reaction to last Monday's budget speech, the leftist think tank said that the budget was a positive one but highlighted concerns about the minimum wage, rental markets and precarious work as sectors which the government had failed to adequately address.
The think tank said it was extremely concerned about unaffordable housing, saying it "insists for a tax on vacant properties (second home onwards) and for the regularisation of prices in the rental and property market”.
Budget 2018: what stakeholders said
"Żminijietna is highly disappointed that there are no plans to modify legislation for a statutory increase in the national minimum wage, and for the opening of an employment agency for migrants. With reference to retirement pension, the Government should do more to ensure adequacy of pensions."
Graffiti reacts to Budget 2018
Many of the think tank's concerns were echoed by leftist pressure group Moviment Graffiti, which in a budget reaction issued within minutes of Żminijietna's said this year's budget did not do enough to address structural injustices.
Graffiti was especially scathing about the budget's provisions for minimum wage earners, saying that their wage had "not increased by a cent."
An agreement reached earlier this year ostensibly raised the minimum wage, but since the increase would only kick in once workers completed two years of employment it did not really raise the statutory minimum, Moviment Graffiti said.
It reiterated calls to raise the minimum wage by 11 per cent over three years.
Measures to encourage people to use buses were positive, but Malta's "broken public transport system" had to be fixed if they were to work, the group added, as it expressed disappointment that the government did not introduce emergency measures to help people living hand-to-mouth due to steep increases in rental costs.