The Maltese economy is expected to grow by 1.1 per cent next year after shrinking by two per cent this year, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said in his Budget speech this evening.

The minister also said the number of people registering for work in September stood at 7,521.

The gainfully occupied between December 2008 and June 2009, increased in every economic sector except manufacturing and tourism.

The minister pointed out to interventions it had made to save manufacturing industry jobs and said such interventions would continue.

INFLATION

Last September, the rate of inflation stood at 3.5 per cent, down 2 percentage points compared to September 2008. Although local inflation was somewhat high, this was showing downward trends, the minister said.

"Notwithstanding this, we will keep working towards the convergence of our rate of inflation with that of the Eurozone."

It is expected that next year the Maltese economy will grow by about 1.1 per cent, while unemployment rate will decrease slightly. The rate of inflation is expected to be 2 per cent.

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