Malta out of recession
'Hard-working families still in human recession' - PL leader
Malta has made it out of the recession six months before the government's cautious June forecast, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday, pointing to strong investment in capital projects and the economy as reasons for growth in the last quarter.
Provisional statistics published yesterday show that in real terms, Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.5 per cent in the last three months of 2009, after contracting in the previous three quarters.
"I'm very pleased," Dr Gonzi said at a press conference shortly after the official figures were released.
Only last week, Dr Gonzi had said Malta was well on track to come out of the recession by June, depending on whether tourism picked up. But in comments to The Times yesterday, he said he had been cautious in his predictions because the country's economy was easily affected by other countries.
"The fact that Malta is out of the recession proves the government's strategy has given us results - now we have weathered the storm," he said.
He remained cautious, saying the statistics should be consolidated by the NSO data to be published in June.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said public expenditure and investment in capital projects were needed to generate more economic activity. "Investment is the key to emerging from the recession," he insisted.
He pointed out that although the growth figure in the last quarter was not "large", countries had plumbed the depths of recession in 2009.
"Malta hit the bottom and then in the last quarter we started the road to the country's economic recovery," he said.
According to the official statistics published yesterday, the economy declined by 1.9 per cent for the year.
In a statement, Labour Leader Joseph Muscat said Dr Gonzi's statements confirmed that he was out of touch with people's daily lives.
Although sectors of Maltese society might be out of recession, hard-working families were still in the middle of a "human recession", Dr Muscat said.
"If Lawrence Gonzi is so convinced that he did the trick and has solved all problems, he might as well want to withdraw the sky-high water and electricity bill increases he voted for last week," the statement said.
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J.Camilleri
Mar 14th 2010, 09:55
Everything so paradise in this disneyland.
Ludwig Flask
Mar 13th 2010, 09:17
@ Dr Gonzi: "... Malta has made it out of the recession six months before the government's cautious June forecast..." - Feel free to contact me, any day, any time, and I'll prove you otherwise!
Nathaniel Camilleri
Mar 12th 2010, 22:26
Hahahahaha Funny....What Country Are You Living In Doctor Lawrence Gonzi :) ?
joe falzon
Mar 12th 2010, 20:50
the worst thing in life is uncertainty. In this day and age of the media, no can swear what is the truth and what is not. Take Mussolini, if my history serves me correctly, he would give the people so much aid but on record he would just double the amount -- just for appearances sake! Other countries believed he was working miracles! What is the truth? Well, I'd like to quote a phrase from simon and Garfunkle's 'Sound of Silence' -- A MAN HEARS WHAT HE WANTS TO HEAR AND DISREGARDS THE REST...........
david vella
Mar 12th 2010, 19:57
MALTA, RECESSION, OVER!!!!!You're kidding whom? Nowadays people are too clever to make fool of!! The U.S are still in trouble so who are we to expect us any better!!!! It's so simple common sense!
smifsud
Mar 12th 2010, 18:32
when jobs increase and wages go upwards then i will believe we will dig ourselves out of this recession...until then its a race to the BOTTOM!!!!!!!!! SORRY....its not a PN or PL its a Global issue ....the big boys have shut the tap off and until they inject money to the people then it is not a good outlook in my opinion ....
adrian aquilina
Mar 12th 2010, 16:47
we are nowhere near recovering yet..a bit of help from the government,namely the soft loan we were promised for small business and self employed,and maybe no more businesses will close this year..just because gonzi says the gdp has grown means nothing to working people.muscat is right on this..all debts have to start being paid back,jobs have to be created etc..when a family has paid most of their debts they have from the last 2 years then they will almost be out of the recession..the p.n ignore individual people and just quote figures that do not mean anything for the working person..if things are improving then gonzi needs to go out of his way to give it an extra push,the soft loan the e.u. gave money for will help..give it now
marthese musssett
Mar 12th 2010, 16:00
Out of recession?I dont think so.What about the people looking for work and are on the verge of giving up?And this ridiculous electricity surcharge?I hope that I m wrong...but I remember when there was much more work in Malta..and when it was cheap.
Charles Muscat
Mar 12th 2010, 14:12
What has the Maltese government done to get out of recession? and what caused Malta to go into recession?
Gianninu Saliba
Mar 12th 2010, 13:49
So the prophet of 'Doom and Gloom' refuses, once again, to accept facts. Joseph, yes, Malta is out of the recession. Yes, this is another yes that you cannot accept, like the "yes, health will remain free." and "Yes, the stipends will remain."
How many times will the Prime Minister have to repeat himself for you to understand?
lgalea
Mar 13th 2010, 08:47
Read my post under yours Gianninu. I wonder how you are so gullible to believe what Gonzi says and don't use a tiny corner of your brain to reason it out. Perhaps some people don't have any.
lgalea
Mar 12th 2010, 13:20
Well good, but consider this.
Your economy contracts by 10% and then it expands by 0.5% and technically you are out of recession.
But does that mean that you are at least in the position that you were before entering recession?
Victor Ross
Mar 12th 2010, 13:20
" He might as well want to withdraw the sky-high water and electricty bill increases he voted for last week" said Dr. Joseph Muscat. Yes and then.?.........Come on Joe tells us and then......what?
Talk is cheap.....really cheap !!!!!!!
James Dimech
Mar 12th 2010, 12:54
PL think that running a country is all about water and electricity tariffs and everyday issues that families face. How pathetic
James Grima
Mar 12th 2010, 12:28
This is superb news. Dear Prime minister, m ghandekx ghax tinkwieta. You are from now(3 years before) reconfirmed as our prime minister. As for LP, I think that its high time for its delegates to begin thinking of a "new mexxej", if ever their party will survive the 2013 forth consecutive defeat (niddubita bil kbir :))
mary lee cauchi
Mar 12th 2010, 12:24
'Malta out of recession'....You must be joking right????...I guess nobody of you lives in the south of Malta,and no one of you gives a damn about the people in the South..I have a business here,and I also talk to other people in the business like me..I sell elementary things like food and drinks...I can tell you the recession has started here around October or November...It also coincides with the time the government made it public that utility tarriffs are bound to increase.
RMangion
Mar 12th 2010, 12:07
I think that although such news are positive, the business community in my opinion is still a bit cautious, and therefore we need to allow some time to actually see results. One needs to also duly consider the possibility that the next period may actually be a case of negative growth. Consequently we have to wait for the next period before saying "hoorayy".
As a concluding note I would like to say that Maltese were always hard working and productive, and therefore they deserve all the praise for this result
D Mercieca
Mar 12th 2010, 11:13
Muscat seems to be out of touch with the global situation, this is some encouraging news for our country which will stimulate economy. MLP are so pessimistic, this attitude won't do us any good. What does Muscat expect? an overnight change?
Joe Morana
Mar 12th 2010, 10:11
These are encoraging good news for Maltese workers and economic operators.
Please choose the reason of your report below: