Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this evening described today as “a brilliant day for this country”.

Speaking at an activity in Tarxien as part of the MEP election campaign, he referred to the announcement made that the deficit stood at 2.8 per cent.

“We managed to reduce the deficit without raising taxes and despite measures to reduce water and electricity rates and lower income tax rates…

“A reduced deficit is important for the country because if control is lost, people will suffer. Moreover, the economy grew by 2.4 per cent,” he said.

Dr Muscat said that, in addition to this, Enemalta's €800 million debt was halved in just one year.

"What credibility can Tonio Fenech have to speak about the economy and the deficit if the deficit he left got us into trouble with Europe?" he said.

According to the Labour Force Survey, there was a 0.5 per cent reduction in youth unemployment over the 2012 figure.

“It is never enough and we will continue working to reduce these numbers.”

Dr Muscat also referred to the Youth Guarantee programme through which young people failing their O Levels would be given free private lessons, among other initiatives. These measures would cost €3 million and more than 2,000 people would be targeted.

"I prefer spending milliosn on people than on other things such as roads or pavements. There are our core values. We will not forget anyone," he said to a resounding applause.

While helping those who are falling behind, the government was also busy helping those who were high achievers, giving them scholarship schemes to continue furthering their education, he said.

"This is what Malta Taghna Lkoll means: that you think of those who are high achievers at the same time that you introduce specific measures to help those who fall behind," he said.

Dr Muscat appealed to people to vote for Labour candidates because no government ever managed to win the majority of votes in elections.

“It is an uphill struggle. Let us write history and show that Malta is full of positive energy,” he said.