The Bank’s Business Conditions Index shows that in October, annual growth in business activity declined slightly on a month earlier but remained above its historical average. The Bank’s Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, an indicator that monitors economic policy uncertainty by synthesising information gleaned from Maltese news portals, continued to stand above its historical average.
In October, the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator declined from a month earlier, while the Employment Expectations Indicator rose slightly. Both indices remained above their long-term average.
In September, industrial production contracted while retail trade rose at a faster pace in annual terms. In August, services production fell and reversed an increase in production that was recorded in the preceding month.
The unemployment rate rose marginally in month-on-month terms, but at 3.0% remained low from a historical perspective.
In September, permits for residential buildings rose from their year-ago level. In October, both the number of residential promise-of-sale agreements and the number of final deeds of sale increased on a year earlier.
In September, the annual rate of change of Maltese residents’ deposits rose when compared with the preceding month while that of credit moderated slightly.
In October, the annual inflation rate based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) stood at 2.5%, up from 2.4% in the previous month. HICP inflation excluding food and energy stood at 2.6%. Both measures of inflation were above the euro area average. According to the Retail Price Index (RPI), inflation stood at 2.7% in October, up from 2.4% in September.
In September, the Consolidated Fund recorded a deficit compared with a surplus a year earlier, due to a rise in government expenditure and a marginal decline in government revenue.
The full Economic Update is available here.
