(Adds PN, government statements)
Seasonally adjusted industrial production decreased by 4.2 per cent in July over the previous month, the NSO said today.
When compared to July 2013, the index of industrial production adjusted for working days went down by 0.3 per cent.
In July, the overall index of industrial stood at 93.9 points. Decreases were registered in the production of consumer goods (-3.1 per cent), intermediate goods (-2.1 per cent) and energy (-1.3 per cent).
On the other hand, the production of capital goods went up by 1.5 per cent.
Annual comparison
When compared to the corresponding month last year, the index of industrial production went down by 0.3 per cent. Decreases were registered in the production of intermediate goods (-4.7 per cent) and energy (-3.3 per cent). On the other hand, the production of capital goods and consumer goods went up by 7.4 and 2.7 per cent respectively.
Drop in industrial production reflects lack of government vision - PN
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that the drop in industrial production reflected the lack of government vision and showed that the problem was becoming a structural one.
The PN said the crisis was leaving an impact on families and creating a vicious circle. It meant fewer employment, shift and overtime opportunities resulting in a smaller cash flow.
The party appealed to the government to acknowledge these problems and draw up measures and initiatives to help the industry and put workers' minds at rest.
Index reaffirms signs of improvement - government
But another statement, the government said the index re-affirmed signs of improvement for the second consecutive month.
The downward trend registered in 2013 was visibly showing positive signs of recovery despite the difficult economic scenario in Malta’s core export markets, namely, Germany, Italy and France. Although still marginally in negative territory, the latest results show a remarkable improvement in a relatively short span of time, it said.
These signs augured well for the Maltese economy, predominantly in the light of the Eurostat statistics published last week, where Malta registered the highest rate in economic growth across EU member states in the second quarter of the year with an increase of 1.3 per cent over the first quarter, the government
It added that the results confirmed that while the economies of other EU states, some of which were Malta’s core export markets, were still in a state of uncertain recovery, the government’s success in various economic sectors, including work creation, investment and commerce, were impacting positively on the Maltese economy.