The Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise welcomed the government’s official application for Malta to join the eurozone. “Indeed, this represents an important and historic milestone in our country’s path for full economic and monetary integration with Europe,” it said.

Chamber president Victor A. Galea expressed these thoughts following Malta’s formal request to adopt the European Union’s single currency in January. The application was presented to European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joachim Almunia on Tuesday.

The chamber president said this was a milestone, not only for the fact in itself, but also because it signified that Malta’s economic situation – at least from the local point of view – was such that it made it possible for such an application to be submitted.

“This includes various economic indicators which our country has worked hard to bring in line according to the Maastricht criteria, such as the annual average inflation rate which stood within the permitted range; the ratio of the annual government deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) not exceeding three per cent at the end of the preceding fiscal year; and the ratio of gross government debt to GDP not exceeding 60 per cent at the end of the preceding fiscal year.”

Mr Galea said: “The chamber now looks forward to the formal endorsement from the European Commission as this will also send out an important message, to both local and foreign investors as to the fiscal/financial stability of our economy with a view to making Malta more attractive from a foreign direct investment point of view.”