The stock of foreign direct investment in Malta as at the end of June 2014 reached €136.8 billion, an increase of 4.2 per cent. Around 98 per cent of this – €133 billion – originated from financial and insurance services, including special purpose entities.

The National Statistics Office reported that there was a net increase of €1.5 billion in FDI flows in the first half of last year, compared with €4.1 billion in the same period 2013, mainly as the result of decreases in equity capital.

The flows for financial and insurance activities have slowed somewhat, with just €1.44 billion compared with €3.9 billion a year earlier. Manufacturing picked up €20.5 million more investment, down from €60 million a year earlier.

The NSO also released data on investment overseas, which stood at €35.7 billion as at the end of June 2014, up from €33.8 billion a year before.

Once again, financial and insurance activities accounted for the bulk of the investment. However, the amount of investment in overseas manufacturing more than five-fold between June 2013 and 2014, from €15.6 million to €78.6 million.

The government welcomed the figures, saying that after excluding financial and insurance activities, there had been an increase of €131 million in FDI in the January to June 2014 period, compared with just €23 million the previous year, when the previous administration was in power.