Economic update 10/2016

Abstract

Overall economic sentiment was unchanged in October, as an improvement in the services sector and among consumers offset weaker sentiment in other sectors. Hard data show that, in September, industrial production went up marginally, activity in the tourism sector rose and retail sales increased. The labour market continued to perform solidly, with the annual growth rate of the gainfully occupied population rising to 4.3% in April. Registered unemployment fell further in September. Price pressures remained moderate. The annual rate of inflation based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) and the Retail Price Index (RPI) stood at 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively, in September. Meanwhile, industrial producer prices were unchanged on an annual basis. Maltese residents’ deposits expanded at a slower rate in September, while the annual rate of growth of credit to residents eased to 2.2%. As regards fiscal developments, the deficit on the cash-based Consolidated Fund narrowed in the first nine months of the year, due to an increase in tax revenue and a small decline in expenditure.