Annual growth in business activity above its long-term average

The bank’s Business Conditions Index indicates that in September, annual growth in business activity increased marginally, and stood slightly above its long-term average.

The European Commission’s economic confidence indicator reached an all-time high in September, well above its long-term average. By contrast, employment expectations fell when compared with a month earlier and stood below the long-term average.

In September, price expectations decreased across all sectors, except in the construction sector. They remained above their long-run average in all sectors, except for consumers and in the retail sector.

Activity indicators continued to signal growth, while labour market conditions in August remained favourable.

Residential building permits increased in August compared with their month-ago-level but fell in annual terms. In September, the number of promise-of-sale agreements rose on a year-on-year basis, while the number of final deeds of sales fell.

In August, Maltese residents’ deposits decreased from their year-agolevel for the first time since 2011, mostly due to lower deposit balances held by financial intermediaries. Meanwhile, annual growth in credit to Maltese residents expanded at a slower annual rate.

In September, the annual inflation rate based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) declined to 4.9%, while the rate based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) rose marginally to 4.1%.

In August, the Consolidated Fund recorded a higher surplus compared to a year earlier.