Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today that the negative outlook given by Moody's to Malta last night reflected the growing need for a decisive and capable administration in Malta.

Speaking during campaign for the local council election in Vittoriosa, Dr Muscat said Malta needed a stable government which was not afraid to face votes in Parliament.

He referred to last night's downgrade by Moody's and said that while part of the reason reflected the eurozone crisis, it also raised problems of local economic management and had said that Malta had a weak debt metrics, which reflected what the PL had been saying about the past weeks on the need to reduce debt levels.

The Moody's downgrade and forecast also match concerns raised by the PL, the EU, the IMF and Standard and Poor's that economic growth would not match government projections.

Lack of economic growth would impact all the government's projects and living standards, he said. Last year's deficit targets were only achieved because the government had slashed capital spending, he said. 

Dr Muscat praised Vittoriosa council for balancing the needs of the residents and the commercial community and said a Labour government would help the council on the building of a new car park.