Finance minister toasts narrowing of trade deficit

Finance minister Edward Scicluna hailed recent national statistics that show that Malta’s trade deficit in 2015 narrowed by €161.2 million to €2,500.7 million when compared to 2014.

Indeed, total imports last year decreased by €385.9 million – mainly due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials that decreased significantly by €890.4 million. This was partly outweighed by an increase of €415.7 million in machinery and transport equipment.

Total exports decreased by €224.7 million – mainly triggered by lower mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€252.5 million), machinery and transport equipment (€39 million) and chemicals (€13.9 million).

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €3,532.3 million, or 58.7% of total imports. There was an increase of €278.5 million in imports from Eurozone countries when compared to the same period of 2014. Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the Netherlands (€197.8 million) and the United States of America (€315.9 million) respectively. On the export side the main increase was directed to France (€33.6 million), whereas war-torn Libya (€88.6 million) registered the highest decrease

“These encouraging figures indicate that, while uncertainty looms over other countries, Malta's competitiveness has stood its ground,” Scicluna said, while welcoming these results. “Furthermore, the increase in imports of capital goods indicates that local companies are investing more in machinery and equipment, and this implies increased business confidence on the outlook of our economy.”