Joseph Muscat Warns Of ‘Striking’ Decline In Consumer Confidence As He Publishes New Survey
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has published the findings of a new survey he commissioned, warning they indicate a decline in consumer confidence among the people of Malta over the past year.
In a report, Muscat said the survey, which was carried out in February by Vincent Marmara’s data research company Sagalytics, shows that private household consumption remains considerably lower than pre-pandemic levels.
This is despite a July 2021 survey showing an improvement in post-vaccination consumption levels and previous surveys indicating that people intend to significantly boost their consumption once they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The results of the current survey show a strong reversal in the trends on economic outlook that were consistently shown in the previous studies, and could also be attributable to non-pandemic related issues, such as the war in Ukraine,” Muscat wrote.
He urged the government to look beyond vouchers to boost consumption, arguing that such policies are temporary in nature while his survey indicates underlying economic issues of a more long-run nature.
The survey was carried out among 600 respondents, who were asked how often they visit cafeterias, clothes and shoe shops and other retail stores, how often they took breaks in hotels and farmhouses, and how often they went on holiday abroad and used public transport.
They were also asked how often they used to use these services before the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The full report can be read here.
Muscat spent seven years as Prime Minister of Malta but was forced to resign in late 2019 after murder suspect Yorgen Fenech implicated his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Schembri has denied any involvement and has not been prosecuted over the murder.
Muscat has since become a management consultant based at a government office in Sa Maison, which was given to him as part of a severance package following his resignation.
However, with no website promoting his services and contact details or even any signs indicating the existence of his office, Muscat’s clients tend to be referred to him through word of mouth.
This is the fourth time he has teamed up with Sagalytics to carry out an analysis of the Maltese economy in the wake of the pandemic.
Muscat has become more active and vocal about politics since police searched his home as part of a magisterial inquiry into Vitals Global Healthcare. He has been increasingly active on social media platforms, including on LinkedIn.
In an interview with Lovin Malta, he said he had intended to “fade away” from public life but the police search changed his mind.
“I think that the search in my home was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I decided… well, hell, I’ll start saying what I think, from time to time and occasionally. That’s why I’m here,” he said.
“I realised that just being at the fringes and the margins, out of my own volition, wasn’t being seen as a sort of way of giving space but as a sort of way of hiding, and I’m not hiding.”
What do you think of Joseph Muscat’s latest report?
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