Finance Minister Tonio Fenech this afternoon said he was “disappointed” by Moody’s decision to downgrade Malta, which he described as unjustified.
He invited the credit rating agency to come and see for itself that the country should not be lumped with others through such an “unfortunate, blanket approach”.
“We are faring better than other countries so we should not be treated in the same way... We shouldn’t be thrown in the same basket when we acted differently,” he said, pointing out that Moody’s gave no specific reasons for Malta’s downgrade.
He said the agencies were being “overcautious” but Malta’s economic fabric was different to those of other countries in the region.
Moody’s, which operates from the US and took its decision after a tele-conference, could have lumped Malta with other countries purely because of its geographical position, Mr Fenech said.
But the problems in Italy and Greece have little direct impacts on Malta because the economy is much more dependent on countries like Germany.
“In reality, [the downgrade] doesn’t have any impact,” Mr Fenech reassured, since Malta’s debt is predominantly local.
Malta was in fact borrowing with lower interest rates than before and “real investors” were more optimistic than the credit rating agencies.
However, he stressed that the downgrade could affect how investors perceive the country.
Asked if the government could have done anything to be more convincing of its economic position to the rating agencies, Mr Fenech admitted there “could have been” and added that the government would make an effort to conduct meetings with the agencies.
“We must continue giving the message that our finances are on a sound footing,” he said, when asked whether the government could do anything differently.
He also criticised the Opposition leader for speaking irresponsibly, rubbing his hands in glee and getting his analysis of Moody’s decision wrong.
“There is a lot of worry out there and we don’t need an Opposition creating more worry,” he said, adding that dampening the perception of Malta’s economy could have a direct impact on jobs.