News • 22 December 2002

Leo Brincat sees reduction in interest rates as indication of economic stagnation

HAMRUN - Malta Labour Party Finance spokesperson Leo Brincat said that the decision of the Central Bank to continue reducing their interest rates was a clear confirmation of the failing economy.

Mr Brincat said that despite the government’s boasts throughout the Budget and the Economic Survey, claiming Malta’s economy was progressing, that the rate of economic growth was increasing and the public finances were stable, the facts at the Central Bank showed otherwise.

Mr Brincat said that the fact that the Central Bank found itself constrained to reduce its interest rates means that this will negatively affect the Maltese citizen who makes use of the bank’s services. Mr Brincat said that this measure would bring closer the country’s rate of inflation and the rate of interest.

"I am sure that a serious analysis by the Central Bank of the country’s economic and financial data will show how the Government is trying to dupe the people with this cheap propaganda. Similar indications of such had been already reflected in the Central Bank’s 28 November statement of this year, when it said that private consumption was still low and that there had been a persistence in the weakness of bank loans to the private sector."