Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning drew contrasts between the current situation in Malta and countries such as Greece, Ireland and the UK.

Other countries, he said, had been forced to take harsh austerity measures including higher taxes and lower salaries.

In Malta, following tough decisions and the people’s sacrifices, Malta and its people had been spared this hardship.

The government, he said, was insisting it would retain students’ stipends, viewing them as a necessary investment for more young people to join the University, Mcast and other tertiary education institutes.

In contrast, in the UK, University students had been told that their fees would rise threefold and more.

However, Dr Gonzi said, the Governor of the Central Bank was right in his recent comments that Malta needed to keep an eye on its spending and ensure that it remained a competitive investment destination. Unless that happened, debt would creep up, as had happened in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and other countries.

“Our duty is to be cautious. I invite the Leader of the Opposition to reflect on how his criticism over the past two years and his calls for measures to make everybody happy would have driven Malta into a wall,” Dr Gonzi said.

Dr Gonzi warned that more challenges remained and the government and the people had to proceed in a way that was serious, responsible and serene. It was important, he said, that everyone was honest with the people.

One of the challenges, he said, was about reforming Air Malta.

Dr Gonzi said he wanted to encourage Air Malta workers and assure them that the government was seeking the best solutions for the country, the airline workers and the airline’s clients.