If you don’t want more foreigners, say goodbye to pensions, warns Muscat

Those who didn’t want more foreigners on the island were also turning their back on economic growth and social measures like pensions, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday. Speaking during a political activity in a jam-packed Birkirkara Labour Party club, Dr Muscat said that as far as he was concerned economic growth was a means to an end. “Our aim is to spread the wealth. But to do this, you have to have wealth to spread in the first place,” he said. Other member states, he said, were facing economic recession, but not here. The government had incentivised work to ensure that all those who could hold a job, did so. Then the next step was growing the workforce, bringing in people from overseas to expand the economic output of the country. “Our model is to open the doors, and embrace the challenges of globalisation. We want to be like that sailor who, at the first sign of strong winds, opens sail and not shies away,” he said. Illustrating his vision for the country’s economy, Dr Muscat said that not so long ago hiking up social security contributions was touted as one of the only practical ways to deal with the pensions problems. Many had been told to forget a pension if...