We are rejoicing over the GDP growth our country is registering, which, as we say today, had in the third quarter the highest GDP year-on-year growth in all Europe.

This growth spurt has now been consistent for the past quarters, after we exited from recession and it has now grown in consistency.

We need to examine the component factors and analyse how we got it so right when all around us bigger countries are still struggling.

Up till a few months ago, it used to be said that most of the GDP growth that was being registered was coming from two sectors only - financial services and online gaming...

That growth, it seems, is still ongoing, but recent policy decisions - ie government policy decisions - have widened the growth to reach out to the construction sector.

With more lax hands on the rein - notwithstanding misgivings by the ecologists - Mepa is being liberalized, incentives have been offered, eg to hotel owners, to raise their hotels by two more storeys and one can see signs of more construction activity all around.

Whatever else is said, one does not see signs of increased growth in manufacturing and industry nor in agriculture. The tourism sector is continuing on a growth trend as it has been for the past years.

It is true that the government component of our economy has had a recent increase, although one would want to see this statement quantified and analysed.

Last week we also reported that Malta is among the lowest investors in R&D in Europe and this is a dark cloud over all recent achievements.

It is clear that the construction spurt cannot last forever. Even now, we are risking, and probably have already overstepped, the boundaries of sustainability in Malta. What we call the countryside, and what technical experts call the ODZ, is even smaller than we may think and huge parts of it are already either neglected, stressed or already being used in one way or another.

It is very true that the love story between the Maltese and construction goes back thousands of years and is deeply ingrained in our national psyche but realistically short of pulling buildings down and re-erecting them anew, there is pretty little growth there. We had better get used to this idea before we come to a juncture where we either see the entire country engaged in a bubble or else compete like mad for ever smaller profits or gains.

This is where the manufacturing sector needs to find a huge growth spurt which can only come true with vastly increased R&D. Industry today does not require the huge industrial estates we still have and which have become vast cemeteries of factories. What matters is not size but what is produced, as long as what is produced is cutting edge.

We are definitely not there yet.

Tourism, the other huge sector of our economy, is doing well with low-cost carriers bringing hordes of tourists for small breaks from snow-bound Europe. But we still need to smarten up our offering and to offer a wider range of amenities to our visitors.

And finally, financial services and related services. These are doing well and are also coping with increased regulatory stresses and competitive pressures. But in this regard, especially, we must not rest on our laurels nor become afraid of venturing out in a competitive world.

More about this in the coming weeks following this week's Ecofin decisions.