The government should not be "blowing its trumpet" over the economic growth of 3.4 per cent in this year's first quarter, the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, said yesterday.

It put the registered gains mainly down to a rise in public sector salaries, something which was unique in the EU, and other government spending.

Although other gains were made in the financial sector and e-gaming, these were not due to a good performance in terms of the local economy's productivity, the GRTU said.

Productive sectors gained ground because of support schemes the government had put in place. However, operators in sectors which did not benefit from such schemes had to fend for themselves.

Small and medium enterprises were still suffering, not least because the government's micro credit scheme, proposed in this year's Budget, had not yet come into force.

The GRTU said it had never been as "annoyed" as it was today at the way the government treated it with regard to the scheme, which was the most important proposal made in this year's Budget.

The €10 million scheme, financed by the EU, is intended to provide grants for SMEs and loans for the self-employed of up to €25,000 at advantageous interest rates.

It was reported in the Business Times that the scheme was not expected to be operational before September, even though it was envisaged to be launched last April.

The delay in the implementation of the scheme was linked to bureaucratic procedures by the European Investment Bank in selecting a local financial institution to administer the scheme.

However, in its statement yesterday the GRTU said it wanted it put into force straightaway so thousands of SMEs and self-employed individuals could receive the help they needed. The constant pressure it had put on the government since the Budget had been in vain.

The government chose to continue to blame the European Investment Bank for the delay rather than use its own funds for the scheme until bureaucracy at the European level was overcome, as the GRTU had proposed.

Another broken promise was for small businesses to have access to funds to help with liquidity problems brought about by high utility bills.

Although the GRTU was happy with any economic gains made, it would be much happier if SMEs and self-employed people were making gains too, which was definitely not the case at present.

It said it would be waiting for the government to implement all the measures proposed in this year's Budget before it considered its proposals for next year's.

The economy was still weak and if the government thought everything was well, it was mistaken.