Central Bank's interest income

The Central Bank of Malta would like to point out that the report on the Governor's participation in the Public Accounts Committee (May 10) contains a number of inaccuracies.

The Bank would like to refer in particular to the statement that "The Bank has Lm56 million less to invest and the rate of return was less than Lm1 million". What the Governor did say when referring to the Bank's profit outturn for 2005 was that, in an environment of low euro interest rates - the bulk of the Bank's foreign assets are held in euro instruments - the average portfolio return of 2.78 per cent achieved in 2005 was relatively high. This helps to explain why, although the average level of investable assets was Lm56 million lower than in 2004, the Bank's interest income was only about Lm1 million lower in 2005.