Prime Minister Joseph Muscat did well in giving an interview to the BBC to scotch fears that Malta would need a Cyprus style bailout.

The PM gave a candid and frank interview, in which he said three major things: Malta does not need a bailout, Malta is no tax haven and thirdly, that no one is immune to the eurozone crisis.

The worst thing that one can do when market speculation arises, is to stay quiet. The government got a lesson in that when the Le Monde story surfaced. In remaining silent for just a few hours, it was like fanning the flames.

Malta’s banking sector is not like that of Cyprus, this much is clear. But it is useless to just say it, those words must be backed up by hard facts, and that is what the PM sought to do in giving the interview with the BBC.

In his arguments, Dr Muscat said local treasury bonds are bought up quickly locally, reducing the risk of speculative investors influencing price movements. Dr Muscat described this Maltese bond ownership as a sort of firewall.

He said: "We don't need to go to the international markets to sell our government bonds and treasury bills. The local market is big enough to take such a demand.”

But Dr Muscat was also realistic, it doesn't make the system immune, he said, but it does create a sort of firewall that has resisted through the years. And one can just look at the yields to confirm that.

In today’s day and age and economic climate, as soon as the markets get the jitters, credit agencies follow through and re-evaluate credit ratings – making it all a matter of perception.

In showing, transparently, that Malta’s system is healthy and robust, the government is putting a message out there. This message is also backed up by the credit rating agencies, and none other than the International Monetary Fund in its reports. This is not to say that there are no areas where Malta can improve – far from it. The key to maintaining our healthy position is by constantly monitoring and tweaking things to ensure that we are always one step ahead.

Malta needs to defend its turf. In this climate, it is entirely believable to think that other – shall we call them ‘agencies’ – want to undermine Malta’s credibility to improve the lot of the countries where they themselves are domiciled.

The only way to ensure that Malta’s reputation remains healthy is to continually say that it’s healthy and do it in a transparent and timely manner. This exercise was not one of damage containment. It was proactive, firm and transparent. In the past, Dr Muscat was accused of being populist and of shooting from the hip. In instances such as this, this is the way to do it.