The efforts made by Malta to reform the economy were praised once again. In a report issued by Business Europe, the confederation of European Businesses puts our country as one of the top EU member states in terms of overall reform progress this year.
The report, “Autumn 2007 EU Reform Barometer”, looks into the structural reform progress of the 27 EU member states. The report looks into the range of situations across countries and policy areas, in areas such as labour-market reforms and sustainable public finances. The report puts our achievement on equal level with countries such as Ireland, The Netherlands, Sweden and Austria.
Business Europe represents more than 20 million small, medium and large companies from 33 countries across Europe. The report that the confederation published a few days ago presents recommendations to member states and European institutions, in the context of the EU Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs.
This is another certificate that the present administration’s policy for economic growth is proving to be successful. The decisions taken are having the expected impact, and are transforming our economy to generate further investment and jobs.
The achievements in public finance reforms have been described as “close to excellent”, quoting the report, “as part of the effort linked to the euro area membership, Malta continued to make relatively good progress”. While the government expenditure is below the EU average, the reform and progress in 2007 has been above the EU average. The report specifically mentions Malta as the country that has made the most active progress in the public finances and social Systems’ sector.
It was no easy task to achieve these results. This is the fruit of our hard work to amend the mistakes made by others such as: the reduction of the national deficit; controlling inflation which in 1998 reached 3.81%; the increase in jobs and the increase in investment.
Together, every Maltese and Gozitan ought to be proud that we succeeded, and we can now say our economy is in gear. This government faced many obstacles to control the discrepancy in our finances. We managed to achieve our set goals even though we had to face obstacles such as the increase in the price of petroleum, cereals and the transfer of investments to emerging economies.
Another confirmation of our success came earlier this year from ECOFIN, when Malta was removed from the excess deficit procedure, a procedure which is imposed on member states that have a high deficit.
Last July our hard work to conform with the Maastricht Criteria were rewarded when we were given the green light to join the eurozone this coming January; a milestone that proves our country’s economic reform is working and having the desired results.
Meeting these criteria was not plainsailing. Malta, like other countries, faced various obstacles in reaching these targets. International challenges include the upsurge in the price of oil. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the economy has actually grown in real terms while unemployment has fallen.
Malta’s increase in competitiveness has resulted in thousands of new jobs a study carried out by Eurostat shows that, employment in Malta over the past 12 months rose by 3.1 per cent, double the average increase registered in the 27 EU member states. New quality jobs in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, aeronautical engineering, the financial services and IT.
The introduction of the euro this coming January will further encourage investment both with eurozone countries and with the rest of the world. The opportunities presented to us with the introduction of the euro will open up new avenues for growth.
Our new currency offers the prospect of enhancing our economy to grow further and faster. The European currency will eliminate exchange rates and currency convergence costs this should result in an increase in trade. International credit rating companies such as Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s Corp. and Fitch Ratings are expecting higher credit ratings and improved investment prospects from Malta’s entry into the eurozone.
Facts are facts and nobody can deny them. Our achievements are certified by the various reports that have been reporting that Malta is blooming economically. We cannot ignore this evidence since the achievements are fruit of everybody’s abilities put to hard work.
We are very lucky to be living in an era in which we are witnessing the growth and transformation of our country. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is leading Malta towards further growth and further achievements. The direction and goals which are set now, and it’s up to all of us if we want our country to grow further.
Is it worth it to start all over again with an administration that has proved incapable to boost our country’s competitiveness? Are you ready to risk what we achieved in the past years?
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP
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www.davidcasa.eu