The Chamber of Commerce conference on "Malta and the euro" being held on Friday is expected to tackle economic issues raised in the path-breaking Federation of Industry conference held on January 16.

Since then there have been developments on the European economic scene which require Malta to make its voice heard.

Is a constantly appreciating euro in the interest of the Maltese economy? How far is it consistent with mainstream economics, if we can speak of the school of Keynes as the mainstream of economics?

In the FOI conference Peter Blackie, European Commission Director General for Economic and Financial Affairs, stated that Keynesian theories were no longer dominant in the high economic councils in Brussels. What does Malta think of such a development? It implies, among other things, an overvalued euro which is harming EU exports.

The Chamber of Commerce conference will examine this issue but it will not seek to draw conclusions. Malta has yet to hammer out its euro policy.

As Mr Blackie noted, the present ECB euro policy is certainly not Keynesian policy. It is best described by Irwin Stelzer in the London Sunday Times. "Just how long the ECB will content itself with fighting inflation while European politicians glow with pride at the strength of the currency they created is hard to predict. The dollar has already fallen some 30% against the euro since its peak, restoring the European currency to its level launch of $1.17. Studies by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggest that if the dollar were to retrace its 54% drop against the deutschemark in 1985-87, and send the euro to $1.40, the area would go into recession".

If the EU were to go into recession, the same would happen to Malta with even more disastrous consequences. The Chamber of Commerce conference is an excellent endeavour to try to ensure that Malta's commercial class has an up-to-date knowledge of all euro developments.