Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1382687
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JUNE 2021 INTERVIEW The cost of living is too high for Allow me to start this interview by asking for a quick opinion: what are your own personal expectations, when it comes to economic recovery after the pandemic? 'After the pandemic' is a term I am not really comfortable using, myself: in the sense that the pan- demic itself is likely to stay with us for a while longer; even if, per- haps, not with the same intensity as the past year. But let's just say that life has changed, as a result of Covid-19. And in some respects, certain changes are likely to be perma- nent. So I think that our expec- tations or the future should be based on this consideration: how will these changes affect the econ- omy; the way we live our daily lives; the way we socialize; how much we travel, or do not travel; and particularly, how we look at the environment? When it comes to how the econ- omy is actually changing, howev- er: before, Malta had an economy that was heavily dependent on consumption. And throughout the pandemic, I think we real- ized that… consumption isn't everything, in life. You can derive satisfaction even just by spending some time with a close friend; by enjoying the company of others… without necessarily consuming anything. So I think that we are in the process of reassessing the val- ue of what gives us satisfaction, in our lives. That value is going to change; and so will the way in which we actually consume. By nature, Malta has always had certain pockets of what we call 'conspicuous consumption': for instance, people who buy a lot of branded clothes. But over the past year, people found they couldn't even go out… so there was no real point in that kind of consumption. People stopped buying; and they also realized that, you can still live without those products. Life goes on. So I think we will see changes in the patterns of consumption. I'm not saying it will affect everybody; but I think there is a percentage of the population that has learnt to derive satisfaction from other things… That is both an interesting and valid point. But it's not really the answer I was looking for. Let me put it you more directly: do you think that Malta will suc- ceed in returning to the same economic rhythm we were used to, before 2020? If consumption takes on a differ- ent aspect – and I'm not saying it will necessarily decline; it might also spread out over different types of products – the impact it will have on the economy will be different, too. The way we invest, for instance, might also change. Today, businesses are perhaps stopping to think a little more about the risks involved, than they ever did in the past; because they have realized that you can't take certain things for granted. So there is a new dimension – which is also, up to a certain ex- tent, dictated by the European Union; and by the direction that banks are now expected to take – that may favour more sustaina- ble investments. Investments that take the environment into consid- eration, for instance… By 'banks', do you mean Mal- tese banks? Because so far, Maltese banks do not exactly hold back from giving out prop- erty loans… Up until now, that's how they have operated. But from now on, there will be an obligation for banks to also consider the sus- tainability of the investments they make. Personally, I hope this will not be limited only to investment in equipment – where, to be hon- est, [Maltese banks] have always been a little 'uncomfortable' to in- vest. When you approach a bank to finance an investment in equip- ment, they will ask things like: but, is this really the most sustainable option? The one that respects the environment the most? The one with the best energy-consump- tion rates? It is good that they ask those questions, naturally. But I hope that they extend the same con- cerns also, for instance, when it comes to financing development. I hope they also start asking: but, is this project really in line with the aesthetic of the streetscape? Does it take into consideration the environmental impact? Was an Economic Impact Assessment carried out…? Meanwhile, there has been a lot of talk about Malta's economic resilience during the pandem- ic: but how much of that has to do with the government wage supplement? And what do you expect will happen, when this benefit is eventually with- drawn? Government certainly helped a lot. It helped to ensure that the majority of the population re- tained its present employment; and employers were given the peace of mind that, when it comes to re-opening, the workforce that they had would still be there. But in reality, we are realiz- ing that this is something that we cannot realistically take for granted, either. When it came to the re-opening of restaurants, for example: there were situ- ations where people who had been on the wage supplement for a year, turned to their em- ployers and said that they would no longer be turning up for work, as they had found another job elsewhere. So I think that, right now, the greatest challenge of any business is to find human resources. Em- ployees… Former Chamber of Commerce president David Xuereb once expressed the concern that sec- tors of the local industry – for instance, manufacturing - may end up getting 'addicted' to gov- ernment assistance… much like a drug addict, who finds it hard to break the cycle of addiction. In turn, this may give rise to the un- realistic expectation that the wage supplement will continue indefi- nitely. Do you share that concern? Again, it varies from sector to sector. There were sectors that needed to embark on certain structural changes, even without the pandemic. There were other industries which took Covid as an opportunity to invest, and to more or less change the entire way they operated. And some sectors actually man- aged to do quite well, in spite of Covid-19. You mentioned man- ufacturing, for instance. In reali- ty, there were only a few pockets of the manufacturing sector that benefitted from wage supple- ments. The majority did not ex- perience sufficient revenue loss, to qualify for those wage supple- ments in the first place. On Reno Bugeja Jistaqsi, Chamber of Commerce president MARISA XUEREB gives a sobering breakdown of Malta's economic prospects, as the country gears up to an uncertain post-pandemic era JAMES BIANCHI