(devaluation) would have reduced the amount of euro we got for our Maltese lira on changeover is an over simplification. He argued that it ignores the basic fact that the economy is composed of many moving parts and that it is unfair just to plug one moving part and expose it on a billboard as if the other moving parts would have stayed the same and therefore do not matter. He suggested that had we devalued our currency we would have enjoyed a vibrant export led economic growth.

Using his terminology, one can state that his argument is base on plugging one moving part and nothing else. I was under the impression that Malta imports much more that what it exports. Surely then the cost of living would have spiralled upward by something close to the 15 per cent that Malta Labour Party leader Alfred Sant is stating that we should have devalued our currency. How confident is Mr Mifsud that his “one positive” (cheaper exports) would have offset the other two definite negatives (higher cost of living and less money in one’s pocket after the Euro changeover)? What makes Mr Mifsud believe that cheaper exports would have meant more exports? Does Mr Mifsud realise that there was the possibility that Malta would have exported the same volumes at a 15 per cent discount? This really is Socialist mentality.

No, my friend, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi got it right. He has proved to one and all that there is a better way of improving our exports without forfeiting 15 per cent. His government motivated productivity and, most importantly, generated confidence in our economy resulting in incredible growth in investment, local and foreign… Lufthansa, HSBC, SmartCity, Go, CMACGM, Nylon Knitting and many others.

The list is endless. By the time I would complete the list, the ruling party would have won another term in office. The truth is: “There is no substitute to a Nationalist government” and that is the honest truth.