An International Monetary Fund report estimating 1.2 per cent growth for Malta in 2012 provided both major parties with political fodder yesterday, as they took it in turns to mock one another.

The IMF projects Malta to have the third highest growth rate within the EU

The Labour Party said the report hammered a further nail into the government’s “unrealistic” 2.3 per cent growth projection which it had presented during this year’s Budget speech.

It would have been better, it argued, had the government presented more honest growth projections. Instead, the government had been forced to slice €40 million off its expenditure, the Opposition said.

But Finance Minister Tonio Fenech was having none of it, saying it was “irresponsible” of Labour to try and spin what was a positive report negatively, to try and discourage investment.

“This is just a case of sour grapes. The IMF projects Malta to have the third highest growth rate within the EU but Labour talks as though Gonzi’s government and Tonio Fenech have no clue about economic affairs,” Mr Fenech scoffed.

Official 2011 figures put Malta’s unemployment rate at 6.4 per cent, although Eurostat figures for January and February estimate that unemployment has reached 6.8 per cent – 0.2 per cent higher than the IMF’s projection for 2012.