Budget surplus came at the expense of infrastructure, Busuttil warns

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has accused the government of trying to mislead the public over the reason Malta achieved its first balanced budget in 35 years.

National statistics released on Thursday show that the Consolidated Fund registered a surplus of €8.9 million in 2016, an announcement that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat hailed as a “Maltese economic miracle”.

However, Busuttil warned that the small surplus was only registered because the government’s capital expenditure had been slashed by 47% - from €581.5 million to €310.3 million.

“When one looks between the lines of what the populist government said yesterday, one realizes that the capital expenditure in the country has been slashed by half,” he said. “The government didn’t say so because it is populist and it just cares about the headlines and not the full picture.”

Moreover, he noted that government’s recurrent expenditure increased during the same period – from €3,056.8 million in 2015 to €3,264.3 million last year.

“This means that instead of investing in infrastructure, the government is wasting money to try and get votes,” he said.  

The PN leader was addressing a group of European Democrats’ Students at Dar Centrali on occasion of the European People’s Party Congress that was organised in Malta.

“This is the problem of populism and why it is important that we tackle it,” he said. “Populism is a threat and a challenge for the EU, and until we address it, it is going to create problems for most of us, both at a national level, but also at a European level.”

He said that populists tend to speak about, ride over and exploit their countries’ problems so as to win votes, rather than speaking about solutions.

“It is time for true politicians to unite to beat populism, to cut their bluff, and come clean with solutions. We must challenge them to be honest.”

He referred to the ongoing Brexit debate, and how former UKIP leader and leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage had “no idea what to do after winning the referendum”.

“Instead of triggering the breakup of the EU, Brexit triggered what could be the breakup of the United Kingdom. In fact, this week, the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of a referendum on the independence of Scotland. There are consequences for populism that can go beyond an electoral cycle.”