By seeking comfort in a marginal two per cent increase in exports in October, the government was again choosing to ignore the worrying drop in exports that took place over the past two years, shadow minister Mario De Marco said.

The value of exports in October this year remained on the same level as in the same month last year and was much lower than in October 2013.

"The slight increase in the value of exports during October offers little or no consolation to the thousands of workers whose livelihood depends on the manufacturing industry, which industry is facing a challenging future.

"Neither does it offer comfort to the 300 De La Rue employees who are being made redundant due to a restructuring process which the Prime Minister hailed as an investment, Dr De Marco said.

He said this was not the first time that the government was selectively choosing and interpreting statistics to suit a political end.

The government repeatedly quoted retail statistics, stating that these were higher than EU average. It, however, failed to mention that retail sales were being artificially bolstered by the steep increase in fuel consumption.

Retail statistics disseminated yesterday by the European Statistical agency Eurostat showed that the volume of retail trade in the EU in October grew by 3.1 per cent when compared to October last year.

Malta's retail trade in the same period grew by three per cent just below the EU average.  However, when retail sales of fuel were removed, retail sales in Malta during the same period fell by 3.4 per cent or the second largest decline in the EU.

The government, he said, resisted calls to reduce the price of petrol and diesel despite the decrease in the international price of oil which this week dropped closer to $40 dollars a barrel.

Dr de Marco said the Nationalist Party urged the government to focus its attention on the real and pressing needs of the manufacturing sector rather than on scoring cheap political points and serving the needs of those close to the Labour Party.