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IOD OPEN HOUSE UK<br />

Malta Business Review<br />

IoD Chairman James Satariano announces that Prime<br />

Minister Joseph Muscat will be a keynote speaker at the<br />

IoD Open House 2018 in London.<br />

IoD Chairman James Satariano<br />

Institute of Directors Malta (IoD) Chairman James J. Satariano has<br />

announced that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be a leading<br />

keynote on the main stage during the opening morning of IoD<br />

Open House 2018 on March 12 to explore a European response<br />

to Brexit, and in his capacity as the political leader of one of the 27<br />

member states poised to vote on the final deal.<br />

The speech has been facilitated by<br />

longstanding IoD Malta member Joseph<br />

Zammit Tabona, the Prime Minister's Special<br />

Envoy for Investment Promotion and Chair of<br />

the Malta-UK Business Promotion Taskforce.<br />

Mr. Zammit Tabona was formerly Malta's<br />

High Commissioner to the UK, amongst many<br />

distinguished posts.<br />

IoD Open House 2018 is an annual convention<br />

taking place on12-14 March 2018 for the first<br />

time ever at the IoD's historic home at 116<br />

Pall Mall, London. IoD UK is host to a threeday<br />

business festival, allowing directors to<br />

network and immerse in all matters facing<br />

leadership today. Through keynotes, debates,<br />

panel discussions and interactive workshops,<br />

IoD Open House 2018 explores truly global<br />

business, the importance of connectedness<br />

and opportunities surrounding diversity<br />

and inclusion.<br />

Other speakers include Baroness Karren Brady,<br />

CBE, Vice-Chairman of West Ham United<br />

Football Club and recognised as the first<br />

woman in English football. She was Managing<br />

Director of Birmingham City from 1993 until<br />

2009 and, during that time, turned the club’s<br />

fortunes around; Mike Flewitt, CEO McLaren<br />

Automotive, Gemma Godfrey founder and CEO<br />

of Moola, Lucie Greene, Worldwide Director of<br />

the Innovation Group at J. Walter Thompson,<br />

Lindsay Herbert, Digital Transformation Leader<br />

at IBM, Josh Graff, VP EMEA at LinkedIn and<br />

Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Chairman of The<br />

Open Data Institute, amongst a raft of top<br />

international speakers lined-up for the 3 days<br />

of the event.<br />

Mr. Satariano said, "I am delighted that Joseph<br />

Zammit Tabona was able to facilitate the Prime<br />

Minister's participation as a keynote speaker<br />

and I look forward immensely to hearing that<br />

speech, Brexit is one of the most important<br />

European issues in many years. IoD Malta has<br />

held Brexit events since 2016. As our economy<br />

grows and becomes more international this<br />

is exactly the kind of quality international<br />

business exposure our country needs." MBR<br />

To find out more about becoming an IoD member<br />

kindly contact Honorary Secretary James Arrigo<br />

on (+356) 21 247 400 or email: jamesarrigo@<br />

marinamilling.com<br />

Credit: Ogilvy PR<br />

Continued from pg 49<br />

and still good levels of profitability despite low<br />

interest rate levels support the banks’ ability<br />

to weather adversity. Legacy non-performing<br />

loans amounting to 4.6% of total loans in<br />

Q2 2017, concentrated in the real estate<br />

development sector, have declined due to<br />

the buoyant economy, the stronger housing<br />

market, and tighter regulatory requirements.<br />

Strong demand, driven by rising disposable<br />

income and net migration, is fuelling housing<br />

price inflation in Malta. Although residential<br />

property prices continue to be roughly in line<br />

with fundamentals, a continuation of this trend<br />

could lead to significant imbalances. However,<br />

there are several factors that may lessen the<br />

risks emanating from the housing market<br />

such as: (1) high levels of home ownership, (2)<br />

households’ high financial wealth and liquid<br />

assets, and (3) banks’ conservative lending<br />

practices and prudent haircuts on collateral<br />

values. Moreover, the government has eased<br />

some of the constraints on the housing supply<br />

side to alleviate the pressures.<br />

RATING COMMITTEE SUMMARY<br />

The DBRS Sovereign Scorecard generates<br />

a result in the AA (high) – AA (low) range.<br />

Additional considerations factoring into<br />

the Rating Committee decision included:<br />

(1) heightened risks to growth and fiscal<br />

Ratings<br />

Date Issued<br />

2/23/18<br />

2/23/18<br />

2/23/18<br />

2/23/18<br />

Debt Rated<br />

Long-Term Foreign Currency - Issuer Rating<br />

Long-Term Local Currency - Issuer Rating<br />

Short-Term Foreign Currency - Issuer Rating<br />

Short-Term Local Currency - Issuer Rating<br />

performance due to the small size of<br />

the Maltese economy, and (2) potential<br />

risks stemming from regulatory or policy<br />

harmonisation changes. The main points of<br />

the Rating Committee discussion included<br />

the fiscal performance, fiscal framework,<br />

government guarantees, debt trajectory,<br />

political environment, economic performance<br />

and structure, and balance of risks to the<br />

economic and fiscal outlook.<br />

KEY INDICATORS<br />

Fiscal Balance (% GDP): 1.1 (2016); 2.1 (2017F); 1.6<br />

(2018F)<br />

Gross Debt (% GDP): 57.7 (2016); 53.6 (2017F); 49.1<br />

(2018F)<br />

Nominal GDP (EUR billions): 9.9 (2016); 10.8 (2017F);<br />

11.5 (2018F)<br />

GDP per Capita (EUR): 22,700 (2016); 24,537 (2017F);<br />

26,369 (2018F)<br />

Real GDP growth (%): 5.5 (2016); 7.1 (2017F); 6.2<br />

(2018F)<br />

Consumer Price Inflation (%): 0.9 (2016); 1.3 (2017F);<br />

1.6 (2018F)<br />

Domestic Credit (% GDP): 269.2 (2016); 262.5 (Sept-<br />

2017)<br />

Current Account (% GDP): 6.6 (2016); 9.6 (2017F);<br />

Action<br />

Upgraded<br />

Upgraded<br />

Upgraded<br />

Upgraded<br />

Rating<br />

A (high)<br />

A (high)<br />

R-1 (middle)<br />

R-1 (middle)<br />

Trend<br />

Stb<br />

Stb<br />

Stb<br />

Stb<br />

Issued<br />

EU<br />

EU<br />

EU<br />

EU<br />

9.8 (2018F)<br />

International Investment Position (% GDP): 46.5<br />

(2016); 63.1 (Sept-2017)<br />

Gross External Debt (% GDP): 872.4 (2016); 843.5<br />

(Sept-2017)<br />

Governance Indicator (percentile rank): 77.4 (2016)<br />

Human Development Index: 0.86 (2015) MBR<br />

For further information on DBRS historical default<br />

rates published by the European Securities and<br />

Markets Authority (“ESMA”) in a central repository,<br />

see: http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/<br />

defaults.xhtml.<br />

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings Limited are subject<br />

to EU and US regulations only.<br />

Lead Analyst: Javier Rouillet, Vice President, Global<br />

Sovereign Ratings<br />

Rating Committee Chair: Chair: Thomas R. Torgerson,<br />

Co-Head of Sovereign Ratings, Global Sovereign Ratings<br />

Initial Rating Date: 3 April 2015<br />

Last Rating Date: 25 August 2017<br />

Information regarding DBRS ratings, including<br />

definitions, policies and methodologies, is available on<br />

www.dbrs.com.<br />

Creditline: European Operations, DBRS Ratings<br />

Limited - http://www.dbrs.com<br />

www.maltabusinessreview.net<br />

53

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