Copyright maltatoday
Opposition and PN leader Alex Borg said the government’s 2026 Budget “forgot people’s realities” and failed to provide a clear vision for Malta’s future. In a statement issued the day after the Budget was presented, Borg described the financial plan as reactive and disconnected from the challenges many Maltese and Gozitan families face. “Money isn’t everything,” Borg said. “This budget forgot the people behind the numbers.” Borg said the Budget failed to respond to what he called Malta’s structural problems, including pressures on healthcare, the rising cost of living, traffic congestion, and what he described as unplanned population growth. He also criticised the absence of substantial measures to improve quality of life or address mental health needs. “To those who are suffering, it offered no solutions,” he said, arguing that Malta needs “a politics that feels for people, not one that works for numbers.” The PN leader said the government’s stated goal of encouraging a higher birth rate was inconsistent with its policies, which he argued fail to give parents the support and flexibility they need. “Today, we live to work, not work to live,” Borg said. “This is a serious social problem that, for this government, seems not to exist.” He also pointed to increasing mental health challenges, young people leaving the country, rising property prices that outpace wages, and long hospital waiting lists as evidence of growing strain on public infrastructure. Borg said a good budget should “bring hope, look ahead, and address reality,” claiming this one did none of those things. He reiterated that the Nationalist Party represents “the real alternative government” because it proposes policies “in the best interest of society, not according to an electoral calendar.” Borg concluded by saying his message was rooted in the “daily realities” of citizens who share their struggles with him. “These people deserve better,” he said. “I want a Nationalist Party that, when in government, presents a budget that truly reflects people’s realities and helps them live a happy life.”
