Analysis of this year's budget by experts and the media does not give the sense of optimism to ordinary citizens as expressed in the Finance Minister's budget address. This is because it has not addressed some of the major challenges that impede real economic growth and development.

The final week of May 2016 was a grisly one. More than 700 asylum seekers and migrants died as three boats attempting to carry them to Italy sunk in the Mediterranean, and the death toll for the year crossed 2000.