Labour Party welcomes European Commission’s autumn forecast

The Labour Party welcomed the European Commission’s autumn forecast report which reported Malta’s economic activity continued to outperform the weak growth in the EU in the first half of 2014, as the Maltese economy continued expanding at a robust rate.

The Commission said that annual real GDP growth surprised positively and reached 3.2%, up from 2.5% for 2013 as a whole. Over the forecast horizon, the situation will somewhat moderating, with 2.9% estimated growth in 2015 and 2.7% in 2016.

The budget deficit, the Commission said, is projected to gradually decline over the forecast horizon, while the government debt is forecast to remain stable.

“This report corroborates what credit rating agency Moody’s said about Malta in its reaffirmation of the A3 rating and challneges the politics of fear and discouragement adopted by PN leader Simon Busuttil,” Labour said in a statement.

The Labour Party said the election of a Labour government brought about “stability that had been missing for years”. It said, that the decision to reduce tariffs had provided families with more disposable income that led to an increase in consumer expenditure and an increase in investors’ confidence.

Tax incentives for first-time buyers helped the construction industry to get back on its feet. The PL said the number of unemployed have gone down drastically while investment and consumption are on the rise. The government, it added, was making better use of structural funds.