Malta establishing itself among ‘the best in Europe’ - government

Malta was establishing itself among the best countries in Europe thanks to the hard-working businesses and families, the Maltese government said in a statement.

Reacting to a press conference by the Opposition on the government’s financial policy, government said the Nationalist Party was “isolated in its criticism” and it did not recognise the positive results registered by the country’s economy.

Opposition spokesman for finance Tonio Fenech said that the government’s plans for the upcoming budget will increase dependency, and not decrease it.

But the government insisted that Malta’s solid performance was confirmed by international independent institutions.

The government said Eurostat praised Malta for registering the second highest economic growth in Europe, with a strong increase in investment.

This, it added, led to a decrease in unemployment.

Credit rating agency Fitch praised Malta’s robust economic growth which was surpassing the Eurozone’s average, the government said. It said that such growth was possible thanks to the reduction in utility tariffs, incentives encouraging more women to join the workforce, the ‘making work pay’ initiatives and improvements in employment conditions.

The government said the European Commission also praised Malta’s economic growth.

Hitting out at Fenech for his criticism, the government said Fenech was mistaken in his assumption that the Maltese economy was not growing. It went on to add that Malta’s national debt “increased by a €1 million every day under his watch”.