Malta counters trend for speed of economic recovery

Global economic growth is progressing steadily, but full recovery will not be reliably under way until December 2010, according to the latest edition of the bi-annual Regus BusinessTracker survey.However respondents to the survey in Malta said they expected full momentum for recovery in the second half of this year.

The survey's 15,000 respondents reported a higher percentage of businesses seeing revenue and profit growth than were experiencing decline. However, respondents, who were asked "When do you expect economic recovery and growth to be advancing strongly and reliably in your country?" have now shifted their expectation of the full momentum of economic recovery back five months, from July to December.

Malta counters this trend with net growth companies positive at 43% and expectations for the full momentum of the economic recovery to take place within the second half of 2010.

The key findings of this worldwide survey emphasize that the business community needs to retain an element of caution in their optimism. The study revealed net growth, with 12% more firms reporting a rise in revenues rather than a decline, and 8% more companies experiencing an increase in profits rather than a reduction. However, businesses across the globe need to stay focused on strategies for cost management, streamlining and greater operating flexibility.

The second edition of the Regus BusinessTracker international economic indicator survey was conducted in over 75 countries and canvassed over 15,000 respondents about the financial performance of their companies and their expectations for growth.

In Malta, 43% of businesses experienced a rise in revenues in the past year (42% globally). As a result of this positive year, 57% more companies than average (70%) expect their revenues to rise in the coming year. This bullishness is reflected in the expectation that the full momentum of recovery will take place in the second half of 2010.

When asked about the measures they believed would be most effective in aiding the recovery, 60% of companies (58% globally) advocated interest rates remaining very low for another 12 months and 80% of businesses emphasized additional tax breaks for businesses (64% global) and consumers (46% global) as measures that would help them into the recovery.