“GOVERNMENT TO SEEK PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL FOR RATIFICATION OF FISCAL COMPACT IN COMING WEEKS” – FINANCE MINISTER PROF. EDWARD SCICLUNA
Government will seek Parliamentary approval for the ratification of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – also known as the Fiscal Compact – in the coming weeks.
Finance Minister Prof. Edward Scicluna made the announcement during a keynote speech titled ‘Navigating the crisis in the Euro Zone – Malta’s Challenges and Opportunities’, delivered during the FinanceMalta 6th Annual Conference on Thursday 26th April, 2013.
During his address, Prof. Scicluna said that the compact, aimed at tightening fiscal discipline in the Eurozone as well as strengthening economic policy coordination, will allow the European Union to address the ongoing sovereign debt crises more effectively.
Prof. Scicluna said the government’s decision to press on with Fiscal Compact’s ratification represents Malta’s ongoing commitment towards strengthening the country’s already-stable economic and fiscal situation to allow it to reach a point from which it can address its national debt problem in a concrete and lasting manner.
Prof. Scicluna noted that despite the turbulent waters sweeping across the Euro zone and which led to the current sovereign debt crisis that is threatening the stability of several European countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and now Cyprus, Malta has performed well.
He however said that Malta nevertheless faces challenges stemming from past decisions which were allowed to hamper economic growth at a time when the country could ill afford such obstacles.
In this, Prof. Scicluna pointed towards Malta’s continued dependence on oil as a source of energy, widespread precarious employment, low female labour participation, and the EU’s highest rate of early school leavers, and said that the government is presenting a plan to address these issues and ensure that Malta carves out a niche among the EU’s more successful and ambitious countries.
“On the energy front we intend to promote independent private investment in Malta’s energy infrastructure in the form of more efficient natural gas fired electricity generation plants. To increase the female labour supply, a bold plan to provide free child-care centres for all will be unveiled in the near future, while ambitious targets are laid out to make a significant cut in the numbers of early school leavers. Our pension problem will also be addressed in consultation with both the social partners and the financial industry.”
“On the fiscal front we intend to continue, in spite of a one-time pre-electoral fiscal slippage last year, to consolidate our public finances by 0.6% each year, including this one,” Prof. Scicluna added. “This is so that we not only continue keeping our deficit with the 3% threshold but aim to reduce this figure until it turns into a surplus. Only this way can we be seriously addressing our national dept problem.”
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“Il-GVERN SE JFITTEX L-APPROVAZZJONI TAL-PARLAMENT GĦAR-RATIFIKA TAL-KUMPATT FISKALI FIL-ĠIMGĦAT LI ĠEJJIN” – MINISTRU TAL-FINANZI IL-PROF. EDWARD SCICLUNA
Il-Gvern se jkun qed ifittex l-approvazzjoni fil-Parlament għar-ratifika tat-Trattat tal-Istabbiltà, il-Koordinazzjoni u l-Governanza tal-Unjoni Ekonomika u Monetarja (magħruf ukoll bħala l-Kumpatt Fiskali) il-ġimgħat li ġejjin.
Il-Ministru tal-Finanzi ħabbar dan waqt diskors li għamel fis-Sitt Konferenza Annwali tal-FinanceMalta, li saret il-Ħamis 26 ta’ April 2013, intitolat ‘Il-Kriżi taż-Żona Ewro – l-Isfidi u l-Opportunitajiet ta’ Malta’.
Fid-diskors tiegħu, il-Prof. Scicluna qal li l-Kumpatt Fiskali, li hu ntiż li jtejjeb id-dixxiplina fiskali fiż-Żona Ewro kif ukoll li ssaħħaħ l-koordinazzjoni tal-politika ekonomika, se tippermetti lil Unjoni Ewropeja (UE) tindirizza l-kriżi tad-dejn m’mod aktar effettiv.
Il-Prof. Scicluna qal ukoll li d-deċiżjoni tal-Gvern li jressaq il-Kumpatt Fiskali għar-ratifika fil-Parlament tirrapreżenta l-impenn ta’ Malta li ssaħħaħ is-sitwazzjoni ekonomika u fiskali sabiex tippermetti lill-pajjiż jilħaq punt min fejn jista jibda jindirizza l-problema tad-dejn nazzjonali b’mod deċiżiv.
Il-Prof. Scicluna nnota li minkejja l-maltemp li ħakem numru tal-pajjiżi Ewropej u li wassal għall-kriżi tad-dejn li mminat l-istabbilta ta’ bosta pajjiżi Ewropej fosthom il-Greċja, l-Italja, Spanja, il-Portugall, u issa anki Ċipru, Malta baqgħet soda.
Iżda kompla jgħid li minkejja dan, Malta xorta waħda qed tiffaċċja numru ta’ sfidi li għandhom l-għeruq tagħhom f’diversi deċiżjonijiet passati li tħallew ifixklu t-tkabbir ekonomiku tal-pajjiż f’mument meta l-pajjiż ma jistax jaffordja ostakoli.
F’dan ir-rigward, l-Prof. Scicluna rrefera għad-dipendenza ta’ Malta fuq iż-żejt bħala sors ta’ enerġija, xogħol prekarju mifrux, livell baxx ta’ parteċipazzjoni tan-nisa fid-dinja tax-xogħol, u l-aktar rata għolja fil-UE ta’ early school leavers, u sostna li l-Gvern qed jippreżenta pjan sabiex Malta tkun fost l-aktar pajjiżi avvanzati u ambizzjużi fil-UE.
“Fir-rigward tal-enerġija, beħsiebna nippromwovu investiment privat indipendenti fl-infrastruttura Maltija permezz ta’ impjanti tal-gas aktar effiċjenti. Sabiex intejbu r-rata ta’ parteċipazzjoni tan-nisa fid-dinja tax-xogħol, għandna pjan kuraġġuż ta’ child-care centres b’xejn li se jitħabbar fil-futur, filwaqt li qed ukoll nistabilixxu miri ambizjuzi sabiex innaqqsu l-early school leavers b’mod sinifikanti. Il-problema tal-pensjoni se tiġi indirizzata wkoll b’konsultazzjoni ma’ kemm il-imsieħba soċjali kif ukoll l-industrja finanzjarja.”
“Mill-aspett fiskali, beħsiebna nkomplu sabiex, minkejja slippage ta’ darba fil-miri tad-defiċit li seħħ qabel l-elezzjoni, nikkonsolidaw il-finanzi pubbliċi b’ 0.6% kull sena, inkluża s-sena attwali,” qal il-Prof. Scicluna.
“Dan sabiex mhux biss inkomplu nżommu d-defiċit taħt il-3%, iżda sabiex ukoll nimmiraw li nnaqsu din il-figura sakhemm issir surplus. B’dan il-mod biss qatt nistgħu nindirizzaw il-problema tad-dejn nazzjonali b’mod serju.”
Economist and Minister for Finance the Hon. Professor Edward Scicluna delivered his keynote speech at this year’s Financial Services Conference, focusing on ‘Navigating the crisis in the Eurozone – Malta’s Challenges and Opportunities.’ Prof. Scicluna was Vice-Chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at the European Parliament and the EP’s representative on the European Statistical Advisory Board. Find out more about FM’s 6th Annual Conference here: http://bit.ly/XCoWcH
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– Friday, 26th April, 2013