Incompetent officials
This week has not begun well for the government’s economic policy-makers. Its much-hyped pledge that it would bring the prices of heating oil and the automotive diesel to the same level failed to materialize. It’s hard to believe that although the measure has been in the pipeline for years, the responsible officials have hardly done any preparation at all. Is this a case of a lack of political will to clamp down on fuel smuggling? Whatever the reason may be, if the government wants to come across as a reliable government, it must get on with the measure. Equally embarrassing is the failure to prepare the ground for the property tax changes. Again the government made pledges without having first done the requisite homework. The final blow came as the EU exposed the country by reviewing the government’s GDP data. The responsible officials once again failed to do their job properly. The responsible ministers must stop the endless announcements by means of interviews and public statements. They should speak when they are ready or risk torpedoing the administration’s newly found momentum.
