UPDATED WITH VIDEO: Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Malta’s credit rating

Published: January 16, 2013 at 11:16am

The finance minister is talking about it now on NET TV. The story had broken already in Malta Today this morning (and that’s pro-Labour…) even though it was embargoed until tonight.

The official Standard & Poor’s release will be out tonight. It is embargoed until midnight, but the Labour Party and Malta Today broke the embargo.

The reassessment began with the vote against the Budget.




22 Comments Comment

  1. Josette Jones says:

    Ghall gol-hajt! See you all on Platform 9¾ With Joe the Plumber and Kon Mi.

    http://i.imgur.com/jXO5T.jpg

  2. Qeghdin Sew says:

    You can’t be serious.

  3. Spektor says:

    The real reason li l baġit ma għaddhiex mhux Joseph Muscat jew Konrad Mizzi imma Franco min?

  4. Distressed observer says:

    Imagine how it must look from the outside – Malta doing well but its people want to stubbornly change the government.

  5. mamma mia says:

    Ili jkolli suspetti li Malta Today ghandha simpatija mal-PL. Issa m’ghandix aktar dubji. Ili ma nahraha zmien twil.

  6. Daniel says:

    Daphne don’t try fooling your readers. Cite the S&P report on this one…it is very clear about the motivations behind the downgrading. Tonio Fenech should be locked in a dungeon at this point.

    [Daphne – My, what a hysterical reaction. And so Labour. Locking people in dungeons? Tsk. Tsk. I can’t cite or quote the Standard & Poor’s report. It’s embargoed until midnight, and I don’t have it. The Labour Party chose to ignore the embargo, so there you go. Ask them. Typically Labour. Even an embargo from Standard & Poor’s means nothing to them.]

    • H.P. Baxxter says:

      I’ll have to step into my schoolmaster shoes again.

      Finances depend on economic performance. S&P’s projections on the latter are based on the premise of a Labour victory.

      And a Labour plan for energy. Need I say more?

    • Daniel says:

      Very funny Daphne. You’ve overlooked the hyperbole. You can rest assured that I hate thugs.

      The reasons for the downgrading are:
      1) Malta’s huge government debt burden
      2) Postponement of the 2013 budget
      3) Permanently loss-making state enterprises
      4) A narrowly based economy
      5) Structural issues such as high private-sector indebtedness
      6) Low female labour force participation

      You can write a beautiful piece about this. Us readers will appreciate it.

    • Jozef says:

      Guess who’s just screwed up his credibility with a rating agency.

    • rjc says:

      Labour seems to have locked Tony Abela in a dungeon. He hasn’t appeared since Bondi+

      Poor guy, in chains, naked in some cold and damp cellar! Our heart bleeds for him.

    • Manuel says:

      “Tonio Fenech should be locked in a dungeon at this point”. Tsk, tsk Daniel. Try to look for Toni Abela in the PL’s dungeons. He’s disappeared.

  7. Gahan says:

    This 25% cut in utility tariffs by the Labour Party is not being considered a plus for Malta by S&P.

    If it were viable they would have mentioned it, because let’s face it, a 25% cut in our bills would boost the economy.

    So they’re considering it like Alfred Sant’s “Switzerland in the Mediterranean” promise. Another pie in the sky by Labour.

  8. Dott Abjad says:

    Ghadhom lanqas telghu fil-gvern u diga qeghedin jinhassu l-effetti negattivi fuq l-ekonomija minhabba l-azzjonijiet taghhom.

    “Il-gurnata minn fil-ghodu turik!”

  9. Interested Bystander says:

    Even the most blue-eyed PN apologist cannot take the Minister of Finance seriously on this one. It was a blessed PN MP that crossed the floor and voted against the Government that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

    This is an incredible act of running away from responsibility. How can the Minister of Finance not take responsibility for what is stated in the S&P report (as reported on the Times of Malta)? His response makes the PN look bad and the report makes the Government look bad.

    Finanzi fis-sod anyone?

  10. just me says:

    This can have very serious repercussions.

    Interest rates will go up because of this downgrade.

    Banks will probably raise the interest rates for those people who have a loan with them.

    There are thousands who have home loans and other loans with the banks.

    If the interest rate is increased, these people will be asked by the banks to pay more every month to cover their loan.

    This should be explained clearly and simply to all as many people are not realising what they are really risking if the Labour Party is elected to government.

    We already have started to suffer the negative consequences. This is only the beginning. It will get worse and worse if they are actually elected.

  11. Jozef says:

    When one reads through the statement, it seems Muscat is perceived as one capable of cooking the books.

    Amongst other reasons mentioned are state owned companies, the race to social benefits and female participation in the workforce.

    We know what Joseph opposed.

    ‘Preventing a budget’. Add the fact he promised to implement it himself and S&P’s motives crystallise.

    Indeed, why slow down an economy, when the above mentioned reasons have been the object of his double entendre?

    Welcome to the real world Joseph. You’ve just managed to change the country’s direction.

  12. Bravura ohra to Joseph u Franco.

    Prosit ghalihom.

  13. Jozef says:

    Joseph’s fancy to the multitudes being at the center of the decision making process has just been torpedoed.

    Arrogant is essential to move an economy forward, procrastinating on policy irks these observers no end.

    When an agency has to produce a report, the primary source of information is what policy makers say. We’re riddled with a conditional innuendo.

    If Joseph Muscat doesn’t think he can overcome his own doubts to leadership, he had better consider his latest threat to leave as a given. Before it’s too late.

    Policies now. And these, given the reality imposed, from the PN.

  14. ray says:

    Suddenly the credit agencies are relevant to the PL elves flooding the timesofmalta.com board.

  15. Gahan says:

    On The Times of Malta comments board today (I corrected the structure of the question)

    “What would Malta’s rating be had Dr Muscat asked two of his Opposition MPs to abstain from voting for the budget? Malta Taghna lkoll.”

    No prizes for the answer. Just get that voting document and use it intelligently.

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