GDP injections and economic boosts

The Minister of Finance and the Economy was reported (December 1) quoting from a recent report by the European Commission which proposed that "each country injects 1.2 per cent of its GDP to boost the economy to address the global financial crisis. This would mean that Malta would have to fork out €65 million".

Surely the minister must have said "the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of its GDP". Or, possibly, to re-inject 1.2 per cent. How can there be an injection of anything before it is even produced? It seems that these days nearly everyone talks about GDP without realising that it refers to the national product (or the "cake" as it was popularly called during my student days). Again, in an EU scenario where most member states have been running budget deficits much higher than the equivalent of 1.2 per cent of their GDP, "injection" must convey a totally different meaning from the conventional fiscal deficit and hence from our own "quota" of €65 million as computed by the Minister. The mention of €320 million loses its relevance. Finally, one does not "boost the economy to address the global financial crisis". One addresses the global financial crisis in order to mitigate its intensification and exacerbation of the global economy, foreseen even a year ago as heading inexorably towards a deep recessionary phase practically everywhere else but, apparently, no so much in this "immunised" country.