Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/609762
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way 11% increase in inbound tourism during October Total inbound visitors for October were estimated at 199,937, an in- crease of 10.7 per cent when com- pared to the corresponding month of 2014. Excluding passengers who stayed overnight on board their ber- thed cruise ship, total inbound tour- ist trips amounted to 196,692. A total of 166,813 inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes, while a further 16,487 were undertaken for business purposes. Inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 10.6 per cent to 166,770 when compared to the corresponding month of 2014. The largest proportion of inbound tourists were aged between 45 and 64, followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket. Total nights spent went up by 10.3 per cent when compared to October 2014, reaching almost 1.5 million nights. The largest share of guest nights (62.1 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Total tourist expenditure was estimated at €182.1 million, an increase of 13.9 per cent over the corresponding month of 2014. Inbound tourists from January to October amounted to 1,605,811, an increase of 5.6 per cent over the same period in 2014. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 5.0 per cent, reaching almost 12.8 million nights. Total tourism expenditure was estimated at €1,500.1 million, 7.4 per cent higher than that recorded for the same period in 2014. Total expenditure per capita stood at €934, an increase of 1.7 per cent when compared to 2014. Money Market Report for the week ending November 27, 2015 ECB Monetary Operations On Monday, November 23, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly main refinancing operation (MRO). The operation was conducted on Tuesday, November 24, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €73.77 billion, €13.25 billion higher than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, November 25, the ECB conducted a three- month, longer-term refinancing operation to be settled as a fixed rate tender procedure with full allotment, with the rate fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the operation. The operation attracted bids of €21.78 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, which amount was allotted in full in accordance with current ECB policy. Also on Wednesday, November 25, the ECB conducted a six- day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation attracted bids of $0.13 billion, which was allotted in full at a fixed rate of 0.62%. Domestic Treasury Bill Market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 28- day and 182-day bills maturing on December 24, 2015, and May 26, 2016, respectively. Bids of €20.00 million were submitted for the 28-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €17.00 million, while bids of €53.00 million were submitted for the 182-day bills, with the Treasury accepting €8.00 million. Since €10.40 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €14.60 million, to stand at €227.85 million. The yield from the 28-day bill auction was -0.020%, up by 0.2 basis point from bids with a similar tenor issued on November 19, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.0016 per 100 nominal. The yield from the 182-day bill auction was -0.051%, down by 5.1 basis points from bids with a similar tenor issued on October 22, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.0258 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 28-day and 91-day bills maturing on December 31, 2015, and March 3, 2016, respectively. FinanceMalta chair suggests visa programmes to attract skilled workers Miriam Dalli The fi nancial services industry is fi nding it hard to recruit skilled workers because Malta's education is preparing "robots" and not inde- pendent thinkers, speakers taking part in a fi nancial services confer- ence said today. In a day-conference at the Hilton organised by audit firm KPMG Malta, senior partner Tonio Zarb said Malta had to work harder to reach the level of sophistication of other countries in the financial services sector. "One way of doing this is to import expertise. Innovation is closely tied to education and we need to encourage a change in our education system to produce independent thinkers, and not robots," Zarb said. Malta Financial Services Authority chairman Joe Bannister drew attention to the fact that, despite the complaints of the industry, very few came forward to help with training prospective workers. He explained that last year only 90 placements were granted, down from 120 the previous year. Bannister went on to state that students were attracted to the financial services industry because of the high salaries. He went on to warn of risks of creating a wage inflation. One way of bridging the gap resulting from the skills shortage was through the setting up of visas programmes, such as those employed by the United Kingdom, FinanceMalta chairman Kenneth Farrugia said. The UK brought in a 20,700-a- year cap on skilled workers from outside the EU in 2011. KPMG partner Juanita Bencini went on to suggest that the solution could be closer to home: increase female participation. 60% of University graduates are women but fewer than half of the full-time working population are women. "We have to tackle the defeminisation of the workforce and we [financial services sector] should be at the centre of increasing female participation. "It's also translated into how employers look at it," Bencini said. "There is a huge mismatch between what the industry wants and what comes out of university. We have not shown enough courage to ensure that this talent doesn't drop off and we cannot afford to have them disappear off the face of the earth." Bencini added that what the government did with the universal provision of free childcare centres had helped a lot but the private sector needed to do something different too. "Can we see our males working four days a week? We really need to start thinking to ensure female participation is there and this will make the industry grow," she said. Labour MP Charles Mangion also highlighted the country's stability as a key attraction to investors. He noted that the cross-party consensus that existed for years allowed the sector to flourish. The financial services sector contributes some 12% to the country's GDP. FinanceMalta chair Kenneth Farrugia PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD