Labour leader – ‘No will to address energy inflation’

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said the Maltese government had refrained from announcing planned hikes in the utility rates in Budget 2012, citing reports by credit rating agency Standard and Poor's and the European Commission.

Joseph Muscat said the Prime Minister and finance minister Tonio Fenech had failed to tell the people this evening that utility rates will increase, after informing both S&P and the EC of the coming hikes.

Citing the reports, Muscat said both institutions expected a decline in consumption due to planned hikes in energy rates that will reduce disposable income.

Muscat reiterated his pledge to reduce utility rates in sustainable and realistic manner if elected to power. "One doesn't expect anything else from a prime minister who sees nothing wrong in increasing utility rates so that people spend more on solar panels."

The Labour leader also denounced the 'hidden spending' on the City Gate project and other government-guaranteed debt on parastatal companies that did not feature in the government's balance of spending.

"People want more jobs, not debt," Muscat said. "You can play around with the deficit, but you cannot run away from debt."

Muscat said that a €10 million tax relief for parents announced in the Budget would be offset by increased fuel prices and utility rates. He said the PN's 'electoral gimmick' of €160 million in tax cuts in 2008 had now been whittled down to €10 million, calculating it to just €3 a week for the beneficiaries.

"It's nothing close to what families were expecting. We still have to see whether all families will be treated the same, whether it will be available only for married parents."

Muscat welcomed the turnaround on increasing maternity leave, but said there was no final commitment when this will happen. "What the public expected was that Lawrence Gonzi announces a U-turn on ministers' weekly €500 salary increase... It is hard to understand the government's change of heart on maternity leave. The government says it wants to discuss this within the MCESD. Let's hope this agreement is reached soon."

Muscat also said the finance minister did not have the courage to say that national insurance contributions would be increasing, apart from the slew of increased 'taxes' on car registration, cement, mobile phones, cigarettes and alcohol.