When a representative organisation of business and industry lists uncertainty in certain sectors of the economy as the main cause for the decline in bank loans to businesses, the government ought to take serious notice.

But this is definitely not the time for the government to go into the matter. What largely concerns it right now, to the exclusion of almost everything else, is the election on Saturday of members to the European Parliament. “Uncertainty” does not figure in the Prime Minister’s vocabulary at this point in time.

Yet, sooner or later, the administration will have to take stock of the situation to see what can be done to help step up export trade and generate new work for the growing number of unemployed. Joseph Muscat and other politicians on the government side chose the nicest bits when they commented about the latest EU Commission’s spring report on Malta, ignoring altogether, for instance, a small sentence on the contribution of exports to economic growth. This said that net exports had in fact given a “negative contribution” for the first time since 2006.

This is not a light matter. Very often, politicians speak of how well the country has been doing in the financial services sector, and, also, of the expansion in gaming and aviation, sectors that are creating a lot of new jobs. But, while all this is encouraging, it is also important to ensure that the country continues to have a good spread of economic activity.

Just as in the early days of industrialisation the country was eager to move on and graduate into new, more profitable lines of manufacture, it is also important for the country to have a diversified economy so as to make the island less prone to any possible sudden shock in one or more particular sectors.

When the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry spoke of the uncertainty in certain sectors, it said the subdued demand for credit came from larger businesses. “Uncertainty has led to a reduced appetite for investment in certain affected sectors such as manufacturing, import and distribution.” While figures showed that the slowdown in credit growth was more pronounced in construction, the chamber remarked that large manufacturing firms were losing business because of high operating costs.

Particularly worrying is its statement that new product lines are being channelled to other more competitive countries or regions. What kind of information does the chamber have in its possession on this? What product lines are being relocated? This is a matter of immediate concern, for relocation means loss of jobs and a further reduction of the manufacturing sector.

The high operating costs were mainly driven by what the chamber called as the third most expensive energy rates in Europe. The government has committed itself to bring the rates down next year, but it now plans to raise their national insurance contribution to help fund maternity leave costs. Another problem is the unfair competition for the import and distribution sector caused by illicit importation of goods from Sicily.

So, it would seem that, while the EU Commission is speaking mainly in rosy terms in its spring forecast, the sentiment on the ground, as least in the areas mentioned by the chamber, is not exactly as buoyant as politicians make it out to be in the din of an election campaign where what counts most are buzzwords, not hard facts. Greater attention would need to be given to all this when the Euro-Parliamentary elections are over.