Matthew Camilleri must be one of those Nationalist Party supporters who do not see beyond their nose, who are so blind or shortsighted that they fall for anything, so long as it is favourable to their party. I hope there are not many of them.

I am referring to Mr Camilleri’s letter The euro (TMID, 30 December). I have never read anything so silly and shortsighted, so devoid of common sense. He lauds the introduction of the euro a year ago, exactly when the European currency is proving most damaging to the Maltese economy. And he hopes that the Labour Party (PL) has learned its lesson. I hope he learns his, and comes to know the right time to do the praising.

Do not get me wrong, I am not against the euro. I agree with the decision to adopt the single currency instead of the Maltese lira. But unlike Mr Camilleri, I am not blind to the disadvantages of the switch. Right now, the euro is proving harmful to our economy.

Ask Dr de Marco, the tourism parliamentary secretary. Our largest tourist market, the UK, will shun us in the coming months, and who knows for how long, and to what extent! Maltese exporters to the UK will also suffer badly. Sterling has sunk so low against the euro that British tourists are avoiding euro destinations like the plague. There is an exodus of UK retirees from Spain and France, because the Brits can no longer live in those countries on their pension, which they receive in sterling and have to convert into euro.

So how about that, Mr Camilleri? Maybe Mr Camilleri is a government employee, and we know that the public service employees have a job for life. So Mr Camilleri will not worry if tourism sinks. His job is secure. But at least he should worry about his fellow Maltese, not come out crowing in favour of the euro and his political party just when the euro is already hurting us. He should be careful about trumpeting his party’s propaganda, or at least, time his trumpeting better.

J. Bartolo

Valletta