Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547077
MORNINGSTAR DBRS is a globally recognized independent credit rating agency that eval- uates the creditworthiness of corporate and sovereign entities, financial institutions, and struc- tured finance instruments. Malta, as we know, has been awarded a very high rating and the bugles were out on Satur- day trumpeting the good news. DBRS is a credit agency that marks metrics, a professional set up like all the others that look at data and then feeds data into an equation and voila out comes a rating. The metric that is produced is comparative and therefore one can deduce whether one coun- try is better off than another country. But they ignore the realities of normal folk. The economists and data an- alysts in Toronto are surely de- tached from the realities on the ground. Beyond the remarkable data which underscores a tiger economy, the truth is the DBRS rating has a serious problem with its radar when it comes to indicators that are not tradi- tional economic indicators. Okay, there are some things such as the generous subsidies that are flagged but not much else. The dirt, the waste, the building spree, the claustro- phobia, the third-country na- tionals' overdependence, the tourist tsunami, the sky rock- eting pricing and the inflation and the loss of trademark Mal- ta. Economic success in numbers and affluence is not an index of well-being or quality of life or happiness. The metrics that never come into play are the basics: the health and education wait time; the dependence on private health care to circumvent the long queues and waiting time at state hospitals. And then there is the lack of faith in the primary and sec- ondary state school system, coupled up with the depend- ence on private schools with tu- ition fees running from €7,000 to €10,000-a-year per child. And after that the reliance on private tuition which raises that contribution even so much more. A service utilised by all the parliamentarians in the rul- ing party. We are just skimming the sur- face here, then the big bomb: the purchase of property. A two-bedroom apartment, no frills or thrills stands at a price of just around €300,000 to €350,000. And after that the mortgage fees. The abysmal public trans- port system or lack of it, makes the ownership of a private car a must, and if the car is not a second-hand car, then a budget of €20,000 is the expected rea- sonable sum for a small decent looking vehicle. And after that, welcome the traffic conundrum. A perma- nent gridlock that leads to end- less journeys for short stretches of even four kilometres. The cost of living is yet an- other weight on the budget of one person or a family unit. Everyone knows what it costs to make a purchase at a leading supermarket chain or a small grocer. Beyond the financial outlay, there are the simple chores in life. The idea of going for a walk with friends in an untainted and pristine spot in the coun- tryside, of swimming in clean seas, of finding some peace and quiet in the countryside or on the periphery of what used to be a village. There is nothing unusual an- ymore; electricity cuts are the norm as are polluted bays, the impossibility of finding a park- ing place next to your home or your workplace. The Maltese and Gozitan village, the communal habi- tat is also no longer existent, and that is now replaced by a conurbation of apartment af- ter apartment block creating a monotony that brings with it a new dimension to our life - a life riddled with depression, sadness and mental illness. Of not being able to open the bedroom windows for a breeze and to be forced to close the windows due to the all-night music from open air clubs or festivals or fireworks more rem- iniscent of a bombing spree. The fact that a building col- lapses, a firework factory ex- plodes, a worker falls and dies at a construction site is the norm rather than the excep- tion. Murders in Malta are also the norm now. Of a planning authority that is a rubber stamp for unbridled development. And of an economy that to feed itself depends on thou- sands of imported workers who in turn need accommoda- tion, transport, utility services, health and education. A vicious circle that knows no end. Of a Malta that was once so authentic and beautiful that it was known not for its metrics but for its uniqueness. Metrics over uniqueness. That is a choice. The DBRS analysts and those that embrace it believe that Malta should become a Dubai. To some the most beautiful city in the world and to others the epitome of unsightliness and artificiality. A place fit only for people without a soul. It is time to speak out, data and records do not make us feel better, they accentuate the pol- iticians' belief that we are living in Shangri la. And Shangri la as today's survey shows is not for many of us. 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2026 OPINION Metrics versus the real world Saviour Balzan Founder and owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster The metrics that have big value… but not for economists Morningstar DBRS is a globally recognized independent credit rating agency