The government has welcomed the fact that industrial production last January was 7.6% higher than it was in January 2014, noting that this was the greatest increase recorded in over two years.

However, this growth is yet to compensate for the fact that industrial production had fallen by 14.8% in January 2014 when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

Industrial production has been largely on a downward trend in the past two years, registering increases - when compared to the corresponding month of the previous year - on just three occasions: September 2013, October 2014 and last January.

But the latest increase has been hailed by the government as confirmation that its measures are giving a new lease of life to Malta's industrial sector. In its statement, the government said that this was even confirmed by the European Commission's surveys, which showed that confidence levels were among the highest in the EU.

The government also pointed out that when compared to the previous month, industrial production increased in seven of the last 12 months.

It noted that the number of full-time jobs in the manufacturing sector has increased by 136 since the change in government, pointing out that between 1998 and 2013 - a period in which manufacturing industries had to adjust to Malta's EU membership and various sectors relying on low wages suffered - the number of jobs had decreased by 11,500.

In its statement, the government also noted that while the opposition issued a statement whenever industrial production fell, it fell silent when it increased, stating that this was another confirmation that the opposition was not interested in economic debate but "continuous negativism."