In his Sunday morning interview on One Radio, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat did not speak about the Milan game at which he was present on Saturday evening at which his favourite team lost to Fiorentina but at which also his two girls were among the children accompanying the players on to the pitch. Nor did he talk about the MaltaToday survey, the last of the year, which showed he enjoys a 27-point lead over Adrian Delia.

Instead he spoke about the Eurobarometer survey results which were published this past week and which showed that the people feel they are doing well. 95% of people feel the economy is growing, 94% of people feel that employment is doing well, and 92% report that their personal financial situation is good.

The survey also showed that the government of Malta is the most trusted government in the EU. This, he commented, is an additional burden, because people trust in the government puts it under more burdens.

Public debt, as has also been revealed this past week, has decreased and the government thus has more funds to spend on people instead of spending them on interest payments. It spends them on pensions, transport of children, on free childcare and on many other beneficial areas.

The elderly that he meets thank him for the increases in pensions which had not increased for 25 years. This could be done because there are more people working. The benefits of this growth can be spread over more people. And the economic growth is being felt also in Gozo.

Dr Muscat spoke about the inauguration, last week, of the Anatomy Centre which Steward built to be used by Barts. Students from all over the world are now studying in Gozo in this world-class facility. Those who used to say this was not possible, now have had to change their minds.

Meanwhile, the building of the medical school is progressing and the external building works are almost complete. Gozo will become a centre of medical studies and also a centre for medical tourism. Statistics published this past week have also shown that economic growth in Gozo has outstripped that of Malta. This growth must become sustainable, which it will be since it will be based on health, the prime minister said.