Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/685992
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 JUNE 2016 News IN ALL LEADING BOOK SHOPS HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY IN MALTA National debt at €5,620.7 million by end 2015 IN 2015, the financial corpora- tions sector held the biggest share of debt with 62.3%, followed by Households and Non-Profit In- stitutions Serving Households (NPISH) with 27.6%. According to NSO, the share of non-residents was 8.8%, up from 8.4% in 2014 and the non-financial corpora- tions sector held 1.3% of the debt. The 'debt securities', which in- cludes the Malta government stocks and treasury bills, is by far the preferred debt instru- ment for general government, with €5,176.0 million or 92.1% of the total debt in 2015. Other debt instruments are the 'loans' and 'currency' with 6.7% and 1.2% re- spectively. According to the data, almost all the debt owed by the General Government Sector is in national currency, with the stock of debt in foreign currencies decreasing and amounting to €0.1 million in 2015. The apparent cost of debt, which is the interest rate applicable to the whole nominal debt, was 4.1 per cent in 2015 compared to 4.3 per cent in 2014, the NSO adds. Figures show that for 2015, the market value of the total General Government debt is estimated at €6,711.5 million compared to the nominal value of €5,620.7 mil- lion. Reflecting the positive per- formance of the debt securities in the local financial market, the market debt increased by €367.1 million over 2014, as compared to an increase of €198.8 million in nominal debt. Last year, the time structure of the debt by initial maturity shows that €2,784.4 million, or 49.5 per cent, was issued with a maturity of 15 to 30 years. This was fol- lowed by debt issued for 10 to 15 years (14.7 per cent), 5 to 7 years (13.5 per cent) and 1 to 5 years (11.3 per cent). The average re- maining maturity of total debt for 2015 decreased to eight years eight months from eight years nine months in 2014. Compared with 2012 which had an aver- age remaining maturity of seven years three months, the debt is being issued on a longer term ba- sis. The biggest share of debt by remaining maturity in 2015 was in the 1 to 5-year category with €1,705.1 million, followed by the 10 to 15-year (€1,106.9 million) and the 15 to 30-year (€1,070.9 million) categories. Data shows that govern- ment guarantees on borrowing amounted to €1,404.2 million in 2015, an increase of €68.9 million over 2014. The majority of Gov- ernment guarantees are issued towards the Non-Financial Cor- porations sector, which accounts for 78.2 per cent of the total guar- antees. The General Government debt data reported in this release are consistent with the April 2016 EDP notification as published in news release 065/2016 dated 21 April. Malta has third lowest unemployment rate in the EU for April M ALTA has the third lowest un- employment rate in the EU, with 4.3%, according to Eurostat fig- ures for the month of April. According to the figures, the member states with lower rates are the Czech Republic with 4.1% and Germany with 4.2% while the highest unemploy- ment rates were observed in Greece with 24.2% in February 2016 and Spain with 20.1%. Figures show that in the euro area, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 10.2% in April 2016, stable compared with March 2016, and down from 11.0% in April 2015. The rate is also the lowest rate re- corded in the euro area since August 2011. The unemployment rate for the whole of the EU was 8.7% in April 2016, down from 8.8% in March 2016, and from 9.6% in April 2015, and it is the lowest rate recorded in the nation bloc since April 2009. Eurostat estimates that 21.224 million men and women in the EU, of whom 16.420 million were in the euro area, were unem- ployed in April 2016. Compared with March 2016, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 106 000 in the EU and by 63 000 in the euro area. Compared with April 2015, unemployment fell by 2.096 million in the EU and by 1.309 million in the euro area. Figures show that compared to a year ago, the unemployment rate in April 2016 fell in twenty- five Member States, remained stable in Belgium and increased in Estonia (from 6.7% in March 2015 to 6.8% in March 2016) and Lat via (from 9.5% to 9.6%). The largest decreases were registered in Cyprus (from 15.7% to 11.6%), Bulgaria (from 10.0% to 7.1%) and Spain (from 22.7% to 20.1%). In April 2016, the unemploy- ment rate in the United States was 5.0%, stable compared with March 2016, and down from 5.4% in April 2015. Eurostat data further reveals that in April 2016, 4.235 mil- lion young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.932 million were in the euro area. Compared with April 2015, youth unemployment de- creased by 495 000 in the EU and by 261,000 in the euro area. In April 2016, the youth unem- ployment rate was 18.8% in the EU28 and 21.1% in the euro area, compared with 20.7% and 22.5% respectively in April 2015. According to the data, Malta also achieved the second low- est youth unemployment rate in the month of April, with 8.9%, only being surpassed by Ger- many's 7%. The highest youth unemployment rates on the other hand, were registered in Greece (51.4% in February 2016), Spain (45.0%), Croatia (38.9% in the first quarter 2016) and Italy (36.9%). Prime Minister encourages unions to take up minimum wage debate MIRIAM DALLI THE debate on increasing the min- imum wage should be taken up by all stakeholders, including the un- ions, Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat said. Presiding over a Cabinet meeting during which a study by Caritas, 'A minimum essential budget for a de- cent living', was discussed, Muscat said that the government was pre- pared to discuss the issue. "Our policy was always one of generating economic growth which in turn would help us look out for the most vulnerable," the Prime Minister told Caritas Malta execu- tive director, Leonid McKay. Calls for an increase in the mini- mum wage have been coming from different quarters, but always found the objection of the employers who were supported by politicians. Dif- ferent political leaders, with the ex- ception of Alternattiva Demokra- tika, have in the past argued that increasing minimum wage would "negatively affect" the country's productivity. Caritas has now put forward a proposal so that the minimum wage is increased over a number of years. Muscat described the study as an important benchmark for gov- ernment's work., reiterating that government measures aimed at encouraging more people to join the workforce and the reduction in energy bills have helped low-wage earners. "There are realities which we can- not ignore, including persons who can't work due to health issues," Muscat said. He went on to add per- sons with disability on benefits, and who cannot work, should receive an allowance matching the minimum wage. Muscat however warned that in- creasing the minimum wage would not impact all persons in poverty: more often than not, those who live in severe material deprivation are unemployed. As recommended by Caritas, the government admitted that a dis- cussion was also needed on social housing and its availability. On his part, McKay welcomed the government's decision to place the Caritas study high on its agenda and that poverty was being dis- cussed at a high level.