Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/563633
Events 46 maltatoday, Sunday, 30 auguSt 2015 Central Bank of Malta publishes economic update for August Economic activity in malta continued to expand robustly in the first quarter of 2015, with re- al gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by 4.0% on a year ear- lier. Growth was driven by net exports, as domestic demand declined. indicators for manu- facturing and tourism point to further expansion in the second quarter of 2015. Buoyant economic activity is being ref lected in the labour market, with employment ex- panding and the unemploy- ment rate remaining at histori- cally low levels. Price pressures remain contained. The annual rate of inf lation, based on the Harmonised index of consumer Prices (HicP), edged up to 1.2% in July. in June, maltese residents' de- posits expanded at a faster pace, while the annual rate of growth of credit to residents moderated. As regards fiscal developments, the general government deficit widened in the first quarter of 2015. However, during the first six months of the year, the defi- cit on the consolidated Fund de- creased compared with the same period of 2014. on the external side, the current account of the balance of payments was in sur- plus in the first quarter of 2015. Economic activity in malta continued to grow strongly dur- ing the first quarter of 2015, with real GDP rising at an annu- al rate of 4.0%, a slight decelera- tion from 4.2% in the previous quarter. Growth was driven by net ex- ports. While exports fell on a year earlier, imports declined at an even faster pace. As a re- sult, net exports turned positive and contributed 4.2 percent- age points to real GDP growth, outweighing a drop in domestic demand. Exports dropped by 5.5%, year- on-year, mostly due to lower for- eign sales of goods, while servic- es exports dropped only slightly. Ref lecting the reduction in ex- ports and weaker domestic de- mand, total imports fell by 7.9%. This drop also stemmed largely from imports of goods. Domestic demand contracted by 0.3% on a year earlier, damp- ening real GDP growth by 0.2 percentage points. investment fell by 18.3% when compared with the first quarter of 2014, re- versing the increases registered in the previous five quarters. Thus, investment reduced real GDP growth by 4.1 percentage points. The fall in investment can be largely attributed to lower spending on non-residen- tial construction and machin- ery, with the latter having been boosted a year earlier by excep- tional outlays on equipment in the energy sector. conversely, investment in dwellings rose, as did expenditure on transport equipment. The decrease in investment offset growth in the other com- ponents of domestic demand. Private consumption contin- ued to rise, sustained by further growth in employee compensa- tion, contributing 1.3 percentage points to GDP growth. However, at 2.3%, the annual growth rate of private consumption halved compared with the previous quarter. Government consumption growth also slowed down signif- icantly, with the annual growth rate dropping to 3.6% from 8.3% in the previous three-month pe- riod. The deceleration ref lected more moderate growth in both compensation of employees and intermediate consumption. Jerry Lee Lewis' 1959 Harley-Davidson sold at auction for nearly $400,000 JERRy Lee Lewis' 1959 FLH Harley-Davidson Panhead sold for $385,000, becoming one of the most expensive motorcycles ever sold. The legendary rock-n- roller, known to his many fans as "The Killer", was at the auction in person to send the beauty off to its new home. Lewis, a motorcycle enthusiast, was given the bike by Harley- Davidson in 1959. An identical motorcycle was given to Elvis Presley a little later and accord- ing to Lewis, "The King" was jeal- ous that "The Killer" had gotten his Harley first. The bike was es- sentially still brand new despite 55 years of ownership, with only 2,257 miles on the odometer. At his professional peak in the late 1950s and early '60s, Lewis was famous as the original bad boy of rock-n-roll. The Great Balls of Fire artist was hon- oured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and was ranked by Rolling Stone maga- zine as number 24 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. "There was a time i wouldn't take a zillion dollars for it, but now it's just sitting there", says Lewis. "you can crank that mo- torcycle up and she purrs like a kitten – but you have to kickstart it you know. i could probably sit on it alright today, but i wouldn't take a chance. i'm 79 years old. This bike is like a child to me, but i've decided it's time to let it go." For local Harley-Davidson enquiries call 2339 3102, visit the showroom at FAPi motors, mdina Road, Attard, or send an email to info@h-dmalta.com. Delicata customises new refrigerated fermentation hall EmmAnuEL Delicata began the 2015 grape harvest in spectacu- lar fashion this year, as the very first chardonnay grapes were pressed and then passed through to their brand new facility - a customised, refrigerated, white wine fermentation unit. Delicata now proudly boasts two fermentation halls. its state-of-the-art main fermenta- tion hall with its 'cathedral ' of stainless steel tanks and other winemaking equipment, which is mainly used for grape press- ing and red wine production, is equipped with specialised pump over vats and Ganimede tanks of various sizes. But Delicata's latest technical breakthrough is a customised refrigerated hall that houses white wine ferment- ing and storage tanks together with new oak barriques; it's not just the individual stainless steel tanks that are temperature con- trolled, it is the whole hall! This latest technological win- emaking initiative has been evolving since the last harvest finished in September 2014, and was completed last week, exactly in time for this year's harvest. This innovative unit houses stainless steel tanks of varying sizes, allowing the winemaker to separate, ferment and store single ' boutique' vineyard wines of selected grape varieties from specific areas. The temperature- controlled hall also houses new 225-litre French and American oak barrels that will be used for white wine fermentation and red wine maturation. This latest development is the third phase of an investment plan initiated approximately seven years ago by the inde- pendent family run winemaking company. The result of Delicata's 'winemaking facility overhaul ' is a separate grape receiving and quality inspection area, an eco- friendly main fermentation hall and all the technologically ad- vanced winemaking equipment required to operate it efficiently and finally this new refrigerated white wine fermentation unit; a total investment of millions of euros. The first grapes to roll into the this new facility at the Delicata winery were their chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, all hand-picked from select maltese vineyards (with the Gozo grapes arriving a week later). The yields this year are slightly up on last year for both grape varieties. And there is good news for Sau- vignon Blanc lovers as Delicata is pressing more and more each year, which will result in them producing more Sauvignon Blanc wine, as due to popular demand the 2014 medina Sau- vignon Blanc is already out of stock. With regards to quality the end result should be on a par with last year. Fortuitously the sudden thunderstorms and rain malta had just before the har- vest helped slightly to counter- balance the effects of the earlier heat waves and the adverse ef- fect that might have had on the vines. Top quality free run Chardonnay juice is pumped into temperature controlled stainless steel tanks located in Delicata's new refrigerated white wine ferment- ing hall 'You have to kickstart it, you know' – Jerry Lee Lewis' Harley