Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela has hailed Fitch’s A+ rating for Malta citing higher than the EU average GDP per capita by 10% and said that with stable fuel prices that limit inflation, the government is still lowering the fiscal deficit.
However, the report also cites that Malta is experiencing a significant deterioration in governance indicators leading it immune to shocks.
The deficit is also getting more nuanced and negative this year so far according to the current valuable figures and it is not necessarily going down. Although deficit reduction was taking place in the past two years, the deficit has been struggling again to do down. At the end of April, the cash-based Consolidated Fund deficit was only €65.5m, much better than €261.4m a year earlier. By end of May, however, it had widened sharply to €178m, versus €146.1m in Jan–May 2025. So on a year-on-year basis it was €31.9m worse. The Herald says expenditure was growing faster than revenue.
On the broader EU/General Government measure, the picture is worse: the Q1 2026 deficit was €339m, almost four times the revised Q1 2025 deficit of about €85m. Eurostat’s seasonally adjusted measure put Q1 2026 at 3.6% of GDP, up from 3.1% in Q4 2025.
Fitch forecasts that general government debt will stabilise at 46% of GDP in 2026-2028.
The rating is intended to reflect the sovereign’s creditworthiness: mainly its ability and willingness to service its debt in full and on time. It is not a general assessment of the government’s overall economic performance or political record, although economic performance, fiscal policy and the effectiveness of government institutions and policymaking are important factors in determining the rating.
You an find Fitch’s report here.
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