Limited recovery by end of 2010 - HSBC
Economists urging caution on data
HSBC is forecasting "limited" economic recovery by the end of 2010 despite the latest statistics showing a slight growth between July and September last year.
"We believe 2010 will be a difficult year and we will only see a limited recovery by the end of it," a bank spokesman said yesterday.
He said recovery would be subject to a number of economic factors and "business confidence will be a key ingredient".
A survey in December by Eurochambres found that Maltese business sentiment in 2010 turned positive even if companies were "more sober" and less euphoric than previous years.
Earlier this month, HSBC's head of commercial banking, Richard Cottell told The Commercial Courier that Malta was "more likely to be at the start of the recession rather than at the end of it".
The last quarter of 2009 and the first three months of 2010, he added, would be the "toughest yet" and would serve as a good barometer of how deep the recession would be.
Figures published on Monday by Eurostat showed the economy grew slightly by 0.4 per cent between July and September when compared to the previous quarter. It was the first positive quarter for a whole year, signalling what could possibly be the beginning of the end of the recession.
However, economists have urged caution pointing out that although the spurt was positive it was based on seasonally-adjusted data, which was likely to be variable given Malta's small economy.
The improvement could be confirmed when the results for the last three months of 2009 are out.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com