A sum of Lm40.27 million is still in circulation one year after Malta switched to the euro, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech has told The Times Business. He also revelaed that Lm251.13 million (€584.98 million) have been exchanged for euros since the country adopted the single currency.
In an interview on the first anniversary of the country's membership of the eurozone, Mr Fenech said that the euro had sheltered Malta during the global financial crisis. "I just don't know how we would have handled such a crisis without significant costs to everyone in terms of the interest rates that would have had to be applied by the Central Bank to safeguard the reserves of the country," he said.
The Finance Minister said that when talking to investors the euro is always one of the factors mentioned as attracting them to Malta. "The fact that the country has implemented a steady convergence programme gives them more certainty, it places us more in the heart of Europe, and these factors clearly made us more attractive for investment."
He said that in meetings with his fellow EU finance ministers Malta is not really considered to be aligned to a particular bloc. "On some issues we are close to the UK, on other issues to Italy, or Germany or France. It really depends on the issue. That gives us quite a standing. We are not great talkers - I don't believe I should talk about everything. I hate it when I hear ministers talking about everything as though they are the experts on everything," he said.
Mr Fenech said that the enlargement of the eurozone was in Malta's interest as it created more stability and was good for Malta's exports and tourism markets. He also revealed that all the former employees of the National Euro Changeover Committee had gone back to their jobs in the private and state sector and that the NECC would therefore not be turned into an authority for consumer protection as many had expected.
He said: "I would like to clarify that even in our electoral manifesto we did not say the NECC will be the consumer authority. We said we will build on our experience at the NECC to reform present structures, to have a stronger competition authority, and also to have a stronger consumer agency as a counterweight, which won't be limited just to competition issues, but which will also conduct consumer campaigns like we did with the euro and by building trust like what was done with the Fair scheme."
Regarding sterling's fall in strength and its effect on tourism from the UK, Mr Fenech said that Malta needed to increase its marketing focus in the eurozone. "It's ok if the UK market goes down to 30 per cent as long as we get increased figures from other sources and that is what we are trying to do. At the end of the day that would mean we would be getting the mix which is so vital for our economy. The greatest advantage of our economy has always been its diversity," he said.
In an interview on the first anniversary of the country's membership of the eurozone, Mr Fenech said that the euro had sheltered Malta during the global financial crisis. "I just don't know how we would have handled such a crisis without significant costs to everyone in terms of the interest rates that would have had to be applied by the Central Bank to safeguard the reserves of the country," he said.
The Finance Minister said that when talking to investors the euro is always one of the factors mentioned as attracting them to Malta. "The fact that the country has implemented a steady convergence programme gives them more certainty, it places us more in the heart of Europe, and these factors clearly made us more attractive for investment."
He said that in meetings with his fellow EU finance ministers Malta is not really considered to be aligned to a particular bloc. "On some issues we are close to the UK, on other issues to Italy, or Germany or France. It really depends on the issue. That gives us quite a standing. We are not great talkers - I don't believe I should talk about everything. I hate it when I hear ministers talking about everything as though they are the experts on everything," he said.
Mr Fenech said that the enlargement of the eurozone was in Malta's interest as it created more stability and was good for Malta's exports and tourism markets. He also revealed that all the former employees of the National Euro Changeover Committee had gone back to their jobs in the private and state sector and that the NECC would therefore not be turned into an authority for consumer protection as many had expected.
He said: "I would like to clarify that even in our electoral manifesto we did not say the NECC will be the consumer authority. We said we will build on our experience at the NECC to reform present structures, to have a stronger competition authority, and also to have a stronger consumer agency as a counterweight, which won't be limited just to competition issues, but which will also conduct consumer campaigns like we did with the euro and by building trust like what was done with the Fair scheme."
Regarding sterling's fall in strength and its effect on tourism from the UK, Mr Fenech said that Malta needed to increase its marketing focus in the eurozone. "It's ok if the UK market goes down to 30 per cent as long as we get increased figures from other sources and that is what we are trying to do. At the end of the day that would mean we would be getting the mix which is so vital for our economy. The greatest advantage of our economy has always been its diversity," he said.