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14 maltatoday | TUESDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2023 BUDGET2024 The Chamber of Commerce The Chamber of Commerce noted an increasing portion of recurrent spend- ing, which it said, included energy sub- sidies, social assistance for pensioners, vulnerable persons and low-income households. But it said such spending had its flipside. "This is commendable as it helps the most vulnerable strata of society to keep up in the current inflationary en- vironment. The flipside of heavy social expenditure is that the spend on infra- structure is inadequate, especially when one considers population increases in re- cent years and the resultant pressures on energy distribution, waste management, and our traffic congested road network." The Chamber said this budget was an- other missed opportunity at introducing concrete measures to disincentivise pri- vate car use in congested areas and dur- ing rush hours. It also said there was little clarity in the budget on how the government is going to improve the productive capacity of the economy, beyond mention of a num- ber of schemes to incentivise businesses to make digital and sustainable invest- ments. "The Malta Chamber is concerned that the emphasis on subsidies is creat- ing a culture of dependence, and subsi- dies now constitute such a substantial portion of our GDP that our economic growth is being fuelled largely by subsi- dies." The Chamber also said the government was finally bold enough to withdraw an incentive related to the purchase of property in Gozo to protect what is left of the greenbelts of Gozo and increase incentives for the renovation of proper- ties in urban conservation areas. General Workers Union The General Workers' Union said it was satisfied with the measures an- nounced for Budget 2024, dubbing it the budget with the greatest expenditure ev- er on social measures. "The GWU is pleased that this is an- other budget that continues to the qual- ity of life, gives stability, strengthens the standard of living of workers and pensioners, while ensuring economic growth," said GWU Secretary-General Josef Bugeja. The GWU said the most important measures were those strengthening the national minimum wage over four years, the increase in social services and pen- sions, the subsidy on the price of energy, fuel and cereals – totalling €350 million – and all without the introduction of new taxes. The GWU welcomed the increase in service pensioners and widows' pen- sioners, cash grants for small and me- dium-sized enterprises, the increase in student stipends, the strengthening of the additional COLA mechanism, the increase in Children's Allowance, the increase in Carers' Grant as well as ad- dressing the anomaly of those pension- ers born before 1962 amongst others. UHM In a scathing review of the budget, the UĦM said it was disappointed that gov- ernment did not take up the suggestion not to have the COLA increase taxed. Such a measure could have left €30 mil- lion more in people's pockets, the un- ion said. It noted the additional COLA, which will benefit 95,000 families next year, almost double the number of fami- lies targeted in 2023, but insisted this was also an admission of increasing poverty. The union said wages were not enough to ensure a decent living. UĦM CEO Josef Vella said government could have had a second more generous budget with the €500 million paid to Steward Health- care over the fraudulent hospitals deal. Chamber of SMEs The Chamber of SMEs said that while energy subsidies were an important reas- surance for the economy, SMEs should have played a more prominent role in this Budget. "The greatest reassurance of this Budget is that the energy subsidy will re- main for as long as necessary. This offers basic but very important assurance." But the SME Chamber said there was no emphasis or new incentives on how SMEs can be strengthened. It said a plan to renew the economy by attracting economic growth from high- end sectors was important. "At the same time however, we are forgetting the ab- solute majority of the businesses that contribute towards the Maltese econo- my." Gozo Business Chamber The Gozo Business Chamber (GBC) noted the Budget's principally social aspect in the face of international pres- sures and praised various measures ad- dressing Gozo. But the GBC said that even with the recent publication of the Gozo Region- al Development Strategy, the Chamber believes that the Budget failed in trans- forming the Gozitan economy into a more sustainable economy, and to sus- tain a long-term vision for the island. The Chamber was dissatisfied that sectors which need support such as im- porters and artisans established in Gozo, which require assistance in the transport between the two islands, were not ad- dressed. ADPD The Green Party, ADPD, said increases to the minimum wage announced right before the Budget, were a step in the right direction but far from those needed for a decent living. ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci said: "While it is positive that the government has finally acknowledged that the mini- mum wage should increase, it is unclear how this increase has been established... Caritas in Malta carried out various studies and finally found that a family of two adults and two children needs an income of just under €14,000 in 2020, about €4,000 per year above the mini- mum wage. This means that the mini- mum wage in 2020 was 40% below that decent minimum income level." ADPD also said that the energy subsidy should have provided a unique oppor- tunity to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle change. "We are not convinced that the cost of €70,000 per hour in subsidies is the best way to allocate our country's limited resources. It is time to focus on whether there are better ways of using subsidies in particular those ap- plied to petrol, diesel and electricity." Gauci said while basic and essential household electricity consumption should continue to be subsidised, a re- view of other non-residential energy and fuel subsidies should take place. Union of Professional Educators The Union of Professional Educators (UPE) dubbed the Budget 2024 as "ir- relevant to education" saying none of its measures had given any comfort to ed- ucators. The UPE complained that there was inadequate investment in education, that working conditions had not been improved, and claimed that teachers' freedom of association with the union of their choice was being systematically violated, UPE secretary-general Graham Sansone said. Malta Union of Teachers The Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) slammed government's lack of vision in the education sector. The union said it falls short in providing new initiatives for the education sector, "particularly the vision." "The budget document mentions just three main items which are directly relat- ed to the sector, but which have already been announced in the past months: The National Education Strategy 2024-2030; the laptop for students in year 7 and the completion of infrastructural works on a number of schools," the MUT said. "This was provided in 2023. Unless this adjust- ment is provided, government employ- ees will be short-changed." Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association The MHRA welcomed the budget commitment for a new national airline to replace Air Malta next year and the continuation of subsidies in the energy and fuel sectors. However, the MHRA noted that the government reduced the subvention for the Malta Tourism Authority and the budget failed to specifically mention any initiative in relation to tourism despite the "various challenges next year". Social partners react to Caruana's Budget speech "Subsidies now constitute such a substantial portion of our GDP that our economic growth is being fuelled largely by subsidies" Karl Azzopardi and Matthew Vella