Opposition's pension proposals will raise national insurance - PM

Muscat speaks about energy and social welfare plans • Video by Ray Attard

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat criticised the Opposition's proposal to set up a second pillar pension before a third pillar one. A Bill to set up a third pillar pension system was approved unanimously in Parliament on Tuesday. This will

"Second pillar pensions will mean mandatory private pensions, which will invariably cause a rise in the national insurance," Muscat told the Chamber of Commerce, in his opening address to a Question and Answer session. "We don't think our economy is ready for that yet and we'd rather stick with a voluntary private pension system for now."

Muscat also said that he is considering introducing new transport systems to alleviate Malta's traffic problem.

"We need to look into the possibility of introducing new forms of transport that have not yet been seriously considered," Muscat said, adding that traffic problems are a key hindrance to economic growth and that 'drastic action' needs to be done to alleviate them.

He also said that the government will soon set up an 'unprecedented' amount of public private partnerships, such as in the maritime industry. He also confirmed that energy bills for businesses will reduce by 25% in march.

With regards Malta registering a 7% decrease in manufacturing productivity in August, the largest decrease in all of Europe, Muscat said that he prefers looking at the long-term picture rather than monthly statistics.

"Long-term analysis shows that our manufacturing industry has resulted in an increae in employment," Muscat said. "We are aiming for medium- to long-term stability."

Muscat also said that the national deficit is set to decrease. "The government inherited a larger deficit than what we have now but managed to cut it down to below 3%. We are committed to cutting it further, without placing our economy at risk."

Earlier, Chamber of Commerce President David Curmi stressed that Malta must become more competitive, after slipping six places to 46th in the World Competitiveness Report.

“Job creation ahs overtaken all other priorities, the result being a loss of competitiveness,” Curmi said, adding that Malta must take “tough decision” that it will benefit from in the long-term.
Curmi said that Maltese businesses who invested in Libya are now under serious pressure as a result of the Libyan crisis. He called for the introduction of a limited visa system for Libyans who need to travel to Malta for business reasons.

“The visa should be valid for no more than 90 days, it must be strictly limited to business travellers, and each traveller must have their own Maltese contact,” Curmi said.