The Maltese economy is out of a recession, according to the latest statistics issued by the National Statistics Office yesterday.
The news was warmly received by the government, which interpreted it as a sign of good economic and financial governance during troubled times.
Economists also welcomed the new figures although they warned against adopting a sense of euphoria.
Following two consecutive quarters where the Maltese economy contracted, (-0.7 and -0.1 respectively in the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012) which technically put Malta in recession, the GDP registered a modest growth of 0.9 per cent in the second quarter.
Malta’s main economic motors, from tourism to exports, financial services and the retail sectors all registered healthy growth rates, with the exception being construction and real estate.
Malta’s positive growth rate during the second quarter contrasts sharply with the rest of the EU where 10 out of the 27 member states are currently in recession. During the second quarter, the eurozone’s average GDP contracted by -0.3 per cent.
Economist John Cassar White welcomed the news, saying the fact the country is out of recession meant the country was managing to do relatively well.
However, he warned that the government needed to remain vigilant and keep attracting new forms of investment if it wanted to keep its pace.
“Financial services and gaming have done very well in the past years but we need to concentrate on attracting new forms of business,” he said.
Economist Lawrence Zammit said that despite being in a statistical technical recession in the past months, in reality exports were up and business was still reporting increasing profits.
“Employment, another important element in the economy, was also growing. This all indicated that the technical recession reported in the first few months was only just an issue of statistics.”
Malta’s economy is showing resilience despite the persistent economic trouble in the eurozone, according to Mr Zammit, who is also chairman of Malta Enterprise.
The news was interpreted by the Government as a confirmation of its steady stewardship of the economy.
In a statement, the Government said the latest data shows that it had managed to incentivise economic growth through direct help to industry and various economic sectors.
This has led to an employment growth rate of 1.5 per cent in the last 12 months at a time when the rest of the EU saw record highs in the area.
The Nationalist Party lambasted the Labour Party’s “doom and gloom” and called leader Joseph Muscat and its “future finance minister” Edward Scicluna false prophets.
“Once again Labour has been proved wrong,” the PN said.
Writing in The Times last Wednesday, Prof. Scicluna said there were clear indications Malta’s recession would span well beyond the technical two quarters.
Contacted yesterday, he said: “I just made a passing comment in an article and an indication is not a forecast. I am not going to quibble. If we are out of recession it’s good news. I was basing my indications on what is happening in the rest of the eurozone.”