Malta with ‘highest level of optimism in Eurozone’

Malta has once again registered the highest level of optimism amongst the countries within the Eurozone, according to a government statement.

The survey carried out by the European Commission gathered information from companies and consumers from Malta and Gozo.

It showed that Economic Sentiment Index reached a level of 112.3 or 12% above average.

Figures show that the general sentiment stretches to all sectors across the board.

The last month saw an increase in confidence for companies that deal with the services sector, as well as industrial companies. There was an increase in demand for both sectors, which led to an increase in jobs within these sectors. The majority of companies estimate that they would continue to employ more people in the coming months.

The optimism in companies was also being transmitted into more confidence among Maltese and Gozitan consumers.

“Malta is one of the only European country where families have registered an improvement in their financial situation over the last year,” the European Commission said.

According to the survey, Maltese families felt that this improvement could continue in the coming months. The survey showed that Maltese people felt that Malta enjoyed clear economic improvement and that unemployment rates would continue to fall.

The increase in optimism led to more buying power for families in Malta. Eurostat statistics show that during the month of November, sales increased by 1.8%, which is three times higher than the Eurozone average.  

This trend was also confirmed by figures released by the National statistics office (NSO), which show that during the first eleven months of 2014, there was a €40 million increase over the previous year.