The Finance Ministry has welcomed a report by Moody's Research Pool about the surplus registered by Malta. 

The report, entitled 'Malta's surprise 2016 budget surplus is credit positive,' was published earlier today.

The report says that "the surplus is credit positive because it accelerates the decline in the Maltese government's debt burden, and confirms that debt has fallen below the European Commission's (EC) 60% Maastricht threshold one year earlier than forecast."

The credit rating agency points to various factors which brought about this success, including increased tax revenue despite a reduction in tax rates, the performance of tourism, and the citizenship programme.  

The report also says that "the Maltese authorities have been successful in reducing public expenditures by around 1.4%, despite increased costs associated with Malta hosting the EC presidency this year (estimated at around €54 million, or 0.5% of GDP in 2016-17), which bodes well for containing expenditure over the course of this year." 

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