Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1109092
25.04.19 9 EDITORIAL BusinessToday is published every Thursday, the newspaper is a MediaToday publication and is distributed to all leading stationers, business and financial institutions and banks. MANAGING EDITOR: SAVIOUR BALZAN COORDINATING EDITOR: PAUL COCKS CONTRIBUTING JOURNALISTS: MASSIMO COSTA | LIAM CARTER BusinessToday, MediaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN9016, Malta Newsroom email: bt@mediatoday.com.mt Advertising: afarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Telephone: 00356 21 382741 A SURPLUS in government finances for the third year in a row is good news and comes on the back of a growth trend that shows little signs of abating anytime soon. The figures released by the Nation- al Statistics Office on Tuesday show that the country registered a surplus of €251 million in 2018, an impressive 2% of GDP. More importantly, government fi- nances would still be in surplus if all the money received from the Individ- ual Investor Programme is removed from the equation. Coupled with this, public debt has not only dropped significantly as a ratio of GDP – it now stands at 46% - but the country has also started to chip away at debt in real terms. With inflation below the 2% mark, all of Malta's headline figures are beyond the requirements laid down by the Maastricht criteria to ensure public fi- nances are on a sustainable footing. The achievements are not a tem- porary blip but the result of targeted measures that have encouraged eco- nomic growth to reach levels unseen since independence. And with debt starting to drop in real terms, the country is also creating a cushion for itself – a breathing space if the economic situation turns bad and requires more government investment to keep it propped up. But every success story must be viewed with caution lest the tempta- tion to become reckless takes over. The same figures showed that ex- penditure rose by a percentage point last year. In many ways, this is to be expected. The rapid economic growth and the new demands it has created has ex- posed weaknesses in the country's in- frastructure and public services. The country needs better roads, bet- ter utility services, better waste man- agement, better healthcare, better ser- vices for an ageing population, better education and better law enforcement. All this comes at a price. It is within this context that gov- ernment must be judicious. It should invest money to improve the public infrastructure but be vigilant against unnecessary spending. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna has said that the government was fore- casting 5.7% growth in 2020, a reduc- tion from 6% this year as it adopts a cautious approach. Within this context, government must ensure that a positive climate that encourages businesses to continue in- vesting is maintained. A recent decision to drop a clause from a tender for cleaning services that made it incumbent on competing com- panies to have a clean record with the tax department was a bad signal. Businesses require a level playing field to function in a healthy compet- itive environment. Companies which fail to live up to their obligation to pay taxes or break the law by employing people at wages below the legal minimum should not be given the same opportunities as those which are correct in their behav- iour. Economic growth over the past five years was also possible because en- trepreneurs invested money into their products and services. They read the signs of the govern- ment's can-do attitude and grabbed the opportunities created by targeted budgetary measures. The synergy between government and the private sector has given the country unprecedented levels of pros- perity. But for this to be maintained, the government must guard against a culture that benefits the few. For the economic success story to continue