The twelve-month moving average rate for March 2019 stood at a rate of 1.38%, according to the NSO.

In March, the food segment saw inflation of 4.81% and the housing segment was up by 2.67%. However, recreation and culture saw inflation of 0.2%, while water, electricity, gas and other fuels segment was only up by 0.1%, according to NSO figures.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta’s retail price index slows in March first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The twelve-month moving average rate for March stood at 1.7%.

The largest upward impact on annual inflation was measured in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index with 0.57 percentage points. This was followed by the restaurants and hotels index increasing by 0.29 pp and the housing, electricity, gas and other fuels index upping by 0.21 pp.

The largest downward impact was recorded in the education index; a decrease of 0.10 pp. This was followed by the furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance index and the clothing and footwear index dropping by 0.03 pp, respectively.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta’s inflation remains 1.3% in March first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Having a citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programme significantly boosts the overall passport strength of a country, according to Henley & Partners. Earlier this year, Malta ranked 9th globally on the index, when the number of destinations was similarly 182.

“Malta currently sits in the 8th spot, ahead of Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand. Montenegro — due to launching its citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programme soon — has climbed 19 places since 2009 to the 43rd spot with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of 143. Moldova has jumped 21 places over the past decade and is now in the 45th spot on the index with [passport] holders able to travel to 121 global destinations visa-free,” a press statement by Henley says.

Additionally, Asia sees growing power and influence globally, with Japan, Singapore, and South Korea now holding the joint top spot on the passport index, with a visa-free or visa-on-arrival score of 189 destinations, the company finds.

“Investment migration programmes help strengthen and diversify the economies of sovereign states, enabling governments to drive capital into domestic development projects, create new employment opportunities, encourage further investment, and improve the lives of citizens. For investors, the travel mobility afforded by a second passport is unmatched, and the opportunities it provides are unparalleled,” says Dr Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners.

Citizenship by investment schemes

Malta launched its Individual Investor Programme (IIP) at the beginning of 2014, which is a citizenship-by-investment programme. “Successful candidates will be granted citizenship in Malta by a Certificate of Naturalisation, which can also be extended to include their families,” the official website of Malta Immigration says. Those who receive citizenship can set up businesses in Malta and have the right of establishment in all European Union countries and Switzerland.

Up to the date of publication, the IIP has received more than 1,000 Malta passport applications on behalf of investors from more than 40 different countries, and submission is open.

However, lately, controversy has arisen related to investment by citizenship schemes in the European Commission, in general in the European Union. In January, Věra Jourová, the European Commissioner for Justice said that “the European Commission does not endorse the cash-for-passports scheme”, in reaction to Nationalist Party MEP Roberta Metsola’s question criticising such programmes, the MaltaToday reported.

Beyond Malta, some other EU countries also offer similar schemes, including Cyprus, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Portugal.

The post Maltese passport steps up on Henley’s strength index first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.