Another drop in the prices of fuel should be expected towards the end of March/ beginning of April, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said today.
He was replying to criticism by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil in Parliament during the debate on the Budget Measures Implementation Bill. Dr Busuttil said that local fuel prices were among the highest in the EU even though the international oil price had come down drastically to such an extent that it reflected an abuse of Enemalta's dominant position.
Prof. Scicluna said that the Nationalist government had left the distributor, now Enemed, in a disastrous state with rusty tanks that were in danger of causing an environmental disaster.
Enemed, he said, had to be strong and viable.
This, he said, did not mean that it should not pass on savings to consumers. Contrary to the Opposition’s claim, prices had already been revised 11 times, the most recent in January. Another drop was scheduled for the end of March, beginning of April.
Earlier, Prof. Scicluna rebutted claims that the Nationalist government had left behind a strong economy.
He said that the maximum growth that was being envisaged under the Nationalist government was 1.5 per cent. Now, the potential for economic growth had grown from one per cent to 3.5 per cent.
Moreover, the Nationalist government had left behind a debt of more than €70 million. Labour reduced that debt by around 67 per cent last year and would keep reducing it.
Prof. Scicluna said the government was also working on controlling the deficits which were the source of debt. It was doing so by ensuring that expenditure did not exceed income.
Its success, he said, was acknowledged by four credit rating agencies and the European Commission, but not by the Opposition.
He criticised the PN government for bringing the value of Enemalta down to €1 and leaving the capital of a power plant commissioned in 1996 unpaid.
The previous government had even failed in female participation targets which were so low that the European Commission had said they could be reached without growth.
It had left the government that came after with two serious excessive deficit procedures.
Turning to the Opposition’s argument that financial sustainability was threatened by jobs in the civil service, Prof. Scicluna said that, had this been true, the government would not be reducing its deficit.
He noted that several public measures from which many were benefitting could only be introduced because Malta was doing really well.
Income tax, the minister said, had fallen for four consecutive years for different categories of people, VAT was not increased but the Opposition wanted people to believe that the tax burden had increased.
Turning to poverty, Prof. Scicluna said the figures given always related to the previous year - so the figures issued for 2014 showed the state of the country in 2013.
He noted that while poverty rates kept increasing under the previous administration, in just nine months of Labour administration, the category of people at risk of poverty remained static - with zero increase. This was before the measured introduced by this government could be seen.
But the Opposition was discovering poverty only now.
Turing to pensions, he said that the Labour government had ensured that no one earned less than a certain amount and came up with a number of projects such as one to help people nearing retirement age.
The Opposition, he said, should learn that national budgets were more than a financial exercise. They were also an economic exercise which could encourage growth and obtain results.