VALLETTA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Credit rating agency Moody's raised Malta's rating to A3 positive for the first time ever on Friday, while the DBRS agency also announced that it had raised Malta's from A to A High on the same day.
DBRS increased Malta's rating for the first time since October 2013.
"Since DBRS's latest review, the projection of the general government debt ratio has been materially revised downwards due to more favorable growth prospects and stronger primary balances in coming years," DBRS said in a statement.
It added that Malta's debt would likely amount to 41 percent of the GDP by 2022, or seven percentage points less than previously predicted.
Reacting to the news, Malta's government said in a statement on Saturday that Moody's rating had previously been decreased between 2008 and 2013. It said that the rating upgrade by DBRS was a result of the improvements in public finances registered since 2013.
It also noted that while that according to DBRS, Malta remained one of the top performers in the euro area, and that economic activity and growth continued to surprise analysts.
DBRS referred to the gaming industry as one of the most important in the economy but insisted that other sectors were also crucial to the growth.
Moreover, the agency said that "the government is making additional efforts to improve governance and strengthen its institutional framework".
Moody's on the other hand said it had decided to raise Malta's rating due to Malta's fiscal strength and its growth prospects.
It said that labor market measures implemented in recent years augured well, while noting that substantial progress had been made in diversifying Malta's energy sources and increasing the country's energy efficiency.
