The international agency Moody’s has confirmed the A2 rating of Malta. This is the same level of rating obtained in July 2019, before the pandemic broke out, and remains the best rating obtained by the country since September 2011.
Moody’s experts noted that the increase in national debt due to the Government’s strong aid to businesses and workers is “mitigated by the government’s strong affordability metrics”, which means that it is still sustainable. Moody’s decision “reflects the relative resilience of the non-tourism-oriented parts of the Maltese economy, the resilience of the banking system to the pandemic shock as well as the government’s efforts to tackle some of Malta’s longstanding institutional challenges”.
International experts believe that, following the initial impact of the pandemic, the Maltese economy has started to grow again this year at a rate of 3.5%. This is despite the fact that the trend in the tourism sector is still unsustainable, also due to the decision that only those who are vaccinated can come to Malta. There is also the effect of the fact that, contrary to what is happening in our country, the majority of neighboring countries have not yet made much progress in the vaccination program.
Regarding the FATF’s decision, the Moody’s report notes the importance of the country building a track record of the effectiveness of the major reforms that have taken place in recent months. Foreign experts point out how “both FATF and the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering Moneyval have recognized the progress made to date in strengthening the supervisory framework in Malta”. They add that it is now important to give these reforms another boost with more enforcement.
Confirmation of the rating by Moody’s follows the decision of the credit rating agencies Fitch and DBRS which also confirmed Malta’s strong rating.
