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Tonio Fenech says S&P downgrade 'was about the eurozone'
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech says Malta's credit rating downgrade is down to the eurozone crisis and does not exclude the introduction of further measures to curb expenditure.
14 January 2012, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
2 min read
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said government is not in 'panic mode'.
Additional reporting by Jurgen Balzan
In reaction to yesterday's downgrade of Malta's credit rating by Standard and Poor's, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said the decision "was not about Malta but about the eurozone." He did not exclude the possibility of introducing further measures to reduce government's expenditure to safeguard jobs.
Fenech said "The eurozone members do not agree with the downgrade. Standard and Poor's decision is not justified but we cannot impose ourselves on independent rating agencies." However Fenech said that credit agencies need to be regulated in the same way as banks need to be regulated.
The Finance Minister said Malta's downgrading from A to A- was down to the eurozone crisis and the decisions taken by the eurozone members during the summit held on 9 December 2011. "Standard and Poor's decision comes after it put the eurozone members on credit watch in December. The credit agency was not satisfied with the measures taken and downgraded nine countries."
He explained that the reason Malta was downgraded was solely related to the eurozone crisis and the decisions taken on the 9 December summit. "Malta was only downgraded by one notch whilst other countries like Spain, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus were downgraded by two notches because they are also facing internal economic problems."
Fenech said Malta's economy is on the right track although it was an open economy. "This puts us as at risk because tourism, exportation, financial services and other sectors are exposed to external factors."
Fenech reiterated that the year ahead is a difficult one."The credit rating downgrades confirm that 2012 will be harder than expected."
"We are not in panic mode because our economic forecasts indicate that we are moving forward in terms of economic growth and controlling debt," he said.
Asked about recent decisions taken in November's budget he said "We were not euphoric at all. We restricted government's expenditure and we were not bullish about the prospective for 2012."
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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imma jekk ghandna gvern b`par idejn soda ghalfejn dan il biki sur ministru u l fatt li hadt zball ta 40 million, dak mhu xejn wkoll jew issa gej il-biki tal madonna biex nikkonvincu lill poplu li jrid jaghmel izjed sagrificcji..bil-haqq grazzi talli nehhejtu il 500 e zieda (minghajr ma tajtu il-leluf li diga hadtu)....SUR MINISTRU LI DEJJEM TFALLI FIS SOMOM
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It's the Euro, stupid!
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Sure - keep up the lies .. we need to prop up the Gonzi Scheme (err I meant the Ponzi Scheme) for as long as possible.
Seeing that the real economy of Malta relies on allowing Malta to be used for money laundering and activities illegal elsewhere - its clear than that 'benefits' resulting from this are more likely to end up paid to politically exposed people. Put another way - when the government changes - there are going to be a lot of people with money bags asking who they should be making donations to .. who the new 'landlords' are.
Let's see if MT will delete this post now. Seems that only meaningless drivel is allowed on either MT or TM.
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It's NOT about Malta, it's about the EUROZONE which Malta forms part of! Elementary logic says that what "cwiec" Fenech said doesn't make sense! It sort of wishful thinking that if the Eurozone collapses, Malta alone will stand as a beacon of financial strength! What rot.
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Do politicians really think we are as stupid as that?
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Do politicians really think we are as stupid as that?
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Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius **
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad
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So it's the EURO's fault I take it?
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IMMA KIF DAWN L-GHORRIEF QATT MA JKOLLOM TORT?ALLAHARES MA HALAQX IN-NAZZJONALISTI ALLA GHAX KIKU DINJA ZOPPZ GHANDA
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it's your fault minister.
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As usual it is never his and his government's fault, such an unlucky minister blamed for the misdeeds of others. Get real Tonio.
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IGGIBX SKUZI TON!!! IL MALTIN MA GHADOMX CWIEC DAQS KEMM QED TAGHMILHOM INT. !!!
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They blame it on Pl, on Muscat, on Franco; its never about them! They are God's gift to these tiny islands;they have downgraded our future, they have burdened us with a mountain of debt,23 years of deficit and they still have the arrogance to look into people's eyes.
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Min huwa dak IC-CUWC MALTI ( dan l-agettiv jfakkarni fik ministru ) li se jemmnek Ton???????????
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Zewg minuses din il-gimgha, wahda minn ghand Franco Debono fuq Bondi- u issa ohra minghand S&P!
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@ GONZIPN & Friends
Tkomplux tohorgu iktar stqarriiet bhall dawn ghax qed taqsmuna bid dahk, jaqaw qieghdin tahsbu li il- maltin huma tfal ta hames snin u jibilghu dak kollu li tghidulhom? jew tahsbu li in-nies jaqraw biss il- gazzetti lokali u jisimghu l- istazzjonijiet tal partiti u il- PBS biss? Ma tafux li hawn l- internet u wiehed jista ifittex kull tip ta informazzjoni u jeduka ruhu kwazi fuq kull suggett? Tal PN ghadhom ma jafux li l- internet qieghed ibiddel is-socjeta maltija u il-maltin ma ghadhomx iktar mazzuni?
maria aquilina •
Forsi ssib xi ftit Gahans li tballahilhom Ma kontx naf li l-eurzone hija maghmula minn 9 pajjizi. Franco, Franco, ma min trakkajt?!!!!!
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Tonio Fenech says S&P downgrade 'was about the eurozone'------
and NOT of course about HIS contribution to HIS government's 5 billion euro debt!
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U mela le..xi hsibtuni lili xi cuc bhal dawk tal-klikka tal-istandard u l-fqar...biex jattu ta haddiehor tal-istandard u l fqar..qabbdu maghna ghax ahna tfal zghar ghalihom dawn il-qabda ekk u ekk....
u ha nara wiehed minnhom kemm ser najjru u nikxiflu awaru la mmur l-ewropa imma ha nehles minn dak il-bicca ta tifel tal-harqa nhar il-hamis ghax jekk ma jivvutax naqtalu il-******* allavolja ghadom zghar.
u le mhux Toninu ara tarax lil dik li deritlek forsi issalvak hi hi hi
Zack Depasquale •
Ghadruni l-ahwa ghax fuq il-finanzi ma' tantx nifhem, imma ghandu jkun l'anqas il-Gvern ta'GonziPN ma'jifhem. Jien sejjer nitkellem bhalha missier tal-familja. Peress li jien u l mara naqra maghfusa bhalissa, bqajna nigru bl-istess karozza li kellna u ma morniex idejjina wahda gdida la qed ninqdew,allura jien din il haga nafha u l-gvern le' x'kien perezempju jambieh dak il-monstru kollu hadid f'bieb il-belt, Malta ghal parlament ghandha tnejn, (tinsewx is-sala tal-Arrazzi).Jekk kienu jafu li kien hemm problemi finanzjarji ghalfejn morna naghmlu bridge to nowhere, u l-iktar wahda, ghaliex ziedu lilhom infushom EUR500 u kien biss il-gimgha l-ohra li ndunaw li hawn problema finanzjarjau nehhew din iz-zieda.Imma dawn il-kwalita ta'nies iridu jmexxu dan il-pajjiz?
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@Tonio Farrakta lil Mlata int u Gonzi, dejjemb'xi skuza banali, vera wiccek ma jisthix, kieku konna pajjiz iehor demokratiku kont ilek li irrazenjajt, hlief hmerijiet ma ghamiltx anki il bydget ghal 2012 tefalwlek ghal wiccek biex tirrangah , l-anqas taf x'int taghmel ghax meta thawwad fil borma il minestra, meta terga tghamel minestra ma tigiex l-istess toghma , int l-anqas taf xlaqtek ghax urejt kemm int fjakk, u min jemmen li qed tghid huwa fidil.
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BLA BLA BLA BLA
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The following countries are in the Euro zone yet they were not downgraded.
The Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
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Indeed the Eurozone countries seem to be in crises at the moment. Big in China, I would recommend.
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The layman out there, including myself, needs to understand the implications of the recent degrading of Malta by S&P. Politicians have a way of using these events to their own advantage. In this case Gov. would emphasize the need for his Gov. to remain in power because he has the solution that will keep Malta afloat. In other situations, such as when the initial crises kicked in, some 2/3 yrs ago, the cabinet gave itself a hefty increase. The mind boggles...why in that crises was this rise taken (behind the ppl's backs) and now it is all doom and gloom? It is about time that the real implications be explained in the interest of all. Where do we really stand? How well is the Maltese economy actually fairing? Is it true that because we have one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the EU, our workers have suitable incomes? We need to know our own realities...is it asking too much from our own representatives?
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Fairy tale ohra....Ahna naghmlu kollox sew jahasra u tort ta haddiehor nidhru hazin!! Issa li l-kampanja elettorali tal-PN qed titmexxa minn 3 min nies bl-expiry date skaduta stenna minn dawn kuljum.
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Jekk kif ipprova jbellghalna l-onorevoli li qatt m'ghandu tort, li l-problema hi tal Eurozone, ghaliex S & P ma naqqsux ir-ratings ta' dawn il-pajjizi li ilkoll qedin fil-Eurozone? Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands ma kellhomx ir-rating taghhom imnaqqas bhal taghna. Sib skuza ohra sur ministru....
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toninu qat mandu tort, dejjem jara lil min sej bellaw, din id darba lil eurozone crisis. ton mintix titlob bizzejed.
Joseph Sant •
Correct me if I'm wrong - but is the Minister now implying that if we had not joined the Eurozone our credit rating would not have been downgraded?
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I real picture of the country's finances is coming through. Weare discoverin a Jekyll and Hide situation. Standar and Poor will not bend backwards like Tonio Fenech's civil servants and OPM to show us how nice the coutnry is doing. S n P do not try to fool the people the way that the PN politicans voracious for pwoer adn votes do. They say it like it is. Will Tonio Fenech try to tell us what a beautiful certificte this downgrading is, like he told us when the UE constrained him to correct the budget.... as it will tell him to do yet again?? None of us are pleased with these develpoments in about our finances, but neither are we pleased with an incompetent junior accountant running our finances and leading us to a Fool's paradise. The best thing that can happen to Malta in the circumstnces is A CHANGE IN ADMINSTRATION ADN GOVERNANCE ..an God help those who take over the mess and debts created by Gonzipn.
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Malta's economy could be compared to that of a family. If the head of a family sold his silver, his car and took a loan on his house to live a luxury life. Now the family head is urging his children to work harder for him to pay his 5 billion euro debt and his increasing debt since he is still living a luxury dream that he got stuck in. His children are working more hours, making sacrifices but surely are considering to tell their father you cannot keep on living your dream life. This is exactly our current situation
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LIAR!!!
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GonziPn is pushing us nearer to the cliff's edge; Pn apologists want us to forget 'the money no problem, ten million hawn u hemm, finanzi fis-sod, par idejn sodi' and this week's non acceptance of the smiling Tonio Fenech.s budget because he cooked the numbers,that is his numbers do not add up to EU's accounting standards. Only yesterday there was a panegirku by a financial advisor on Net TV on how good GonziPN is performing and today we get the bad news that Malta's financial credibility has been downgraded further down the abbyse; I would not not trust one old lira with this advisor!In the meantime the propaganda of GonziPn is shouting: blame Muscat, blame the LP, blame the Euro blame anyone except me!
