Maltese lira and the EMU

Mr John Consiglio (The Sunday Times, December 29) clearly shows that he has missed the whole point of my concern. He resorts to criticising my concern and my legitimate assessment of the cost to the Maltese public of joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

He however fails once again to consider the social element related to this. I am a politician and in the interest of the Maltese public, do not give up, unlike him.

He calls my concern "dangerous" - why? It is only dangerous to those who accept the fatalistic approach that there is only one way forward. In stating that a depreciation on joining is inevitable, I am of course, upsetting the applecart. This is not good news for the pro-EU lobby.

Mr Consiglio goes on to state that I have chosen the lower end of the scale to quote, and not the top end.

Apart from the fact that I have already explained why I believe the Maltese lira will depreciate and not appreciate, I would remind Mr Consiglio that should our lira, in fact, as he suggests may also happen, appreciate, the result will be just as catastrophic for our economy, which is heavily reliant on exports and would, in his scenario, become uncompetitive compared to mainland European manufacturers/service providers.

Denmark, Britain and Sweden are not in the EMU. Are they equally as disillusioned as myself, as Mr Consiglio should have us believe? Or are they perhaps, equally concerned about this reality? Is Mr Consiglio aware of what the countries in the Eurozone are experiencing since they have adopted the euro?

Mr Consiglio told us that he will "give up" if we do not listen to his wisecracks, such as the daily transactions of trillions of euros/dollars and the effect of the percentage difference. When will he realise we are talking about Malta here and that Malta's GDP is a few hundred million liri and that the effect of any instability is significant for our micro-economy. Indeed, when will the world adopt a one-world currency? Mr Consiglio. After we have managed to persuade Asia, Africa, the Middle East or the USA perhaps, to join the Eurozone also?

I wonder why Mr Consiglio's totalitarian advice did not come out of the woodwork when the Maltese government scandalously sold off Malta's national heirloom, the Mid-Med Bank, for a pittance.

My contention remains that in joining the EMU, Malta will inevitably have to depreciate the lira, whether we like it or not.