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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 />
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