Official statistics showing a €866 million balance of international payments further confirmed that the economy was performing even better than projected, the government said today.

It noted that after figures showing record GDP growth of 6.3% and the fastest job creation in the EU, new data showed how in 2015 Malta registered its best balance of payments, equivalent to 10% of GDP.

The European Commission had projected a positive balance of 4.3%.

This result was achieved even though in 2015 Malta imported a record volume of industrial goods, including the power station turbines. This was made up for with growth in the export of products and services.

At the same time, the tourism sector saw an improvement of 9% while the services sector in general grew by 30%.

EU figures also showed that during 2015 salaries in Malta rose by 3.3%, almost twice the average increase int he EU and three times the rate of inflation.

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