The Central Bank of Malta, through its Statistics Department, releases a wide range of economic and financial statistics about monetary and external areas, financial stability, government finance and the real economy. Here are the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to these statistics. Please e-mail us if you cannot find the statistics you are looking for or if you would like to query the data.

Monetary and Banking Statistics

Q: Where can I find statistics on the money supply M1, M2 and M3?
A: Statistics on the money supply are included in the Table entitled “The Contribution of Resident MFIs to Euro Area Monetary Aggregates” on our website. 

Q: Where can I find data on lending to households?
A: The Table entitled “Other Monetary Financial Institutions’ loans by sector” provides a time series on lending to households by other monetary financial institutions.

Q: Where can I find historical monetary and financial statistics?
A: Historical data going back to the 1960s can be found at the bottom of the webpage entitled “Monetary, Banking and Financial Markets” under Other Historic Data.

Q: Can I also find statistics at the level of individual institutions?
A:  No. For reasons of confidentiality, the Bank publishes no data on individual institutions.

Q: Can you provide the base rate of a particular bank?
A:  No. The Central Bank of Malta cannot provide information about individual institutions and suggests that the question be directed to the particular institution.

Q: Where can I find statistics on the main refinancing operations and the central intervention rates?
A:  The Table entitled “Key CBM, ECB and money market interest rates (including historic data 1997–2007)” provides a time series going back to January 1997. As from January 2008 when Malta joined the euro area, the Bank publishes the “main refinancing operations rate”, which replaced the “central intervention rate”.

Q: What is the difference between flows/transactions and positions?
A: While positions are outstanding balances at the end or at the beginning of a period, a flow is defined as the sum of one or more of the following: (a) a transaction (b) a change in the value of a financial asset/liability or (c) other changes in the volume of an asset/liability.

Q: What is the difference between balance of payments and international investment position?
A: The balance of payments is a statement that summarises economic transactions between residents and non-residents during a specific time period, while the international investment position is a statement that shows at a point in time the value of (a) financial assets of residents of an economy that are claims on non-residents or are gold bullion held as reserve assets and (b) the liabilities of residents of an economy to non-residents.

Q:  Where can I find data on foreign investments?
A:  Statistics on foreign investments are included in the Table “International Investment Position”.

Exchange Rates

Q:  How are the monthly, quarterly and annual rate averages calculated?
A: The annual, quarterly and monthly rate averages are calculated on the basis of the daily rates (e.g. euro rates are issued once daily by the ECB) for the respective period. Weekends and holidays are excluded from the calculation.

Q: When and by whom are the euro exchange rates set?
A:  The ECB sets the euro foreign exchange reference rates daily at 14:15 hr. These reference rates are then published in the Central Bank of Malta's website.

Q: Where can I find the euro exchange rates?
A: The Bank publishes the exchange rates of the main foreign currencies every day.  Euro exchange rates have been available since 1 January 1999. They are set daily at 14:15 hr. by the ECB and are then published on our website.

Government Finance Statistics

Q:  Where can I find data on the general government deficit and debt?
A: Data on the general government deficit and debt are included in Tables “General Government Revenue and Expenditure” and “General Government Debt and Guaranteed Debt Outstanding”.

Real Economy Indicators

Q: Where can I find statistics on the property price index?
A:  Statistics on the Bank’s advertised property price index are available in the Table “Property Prices Index (based on Advertised Prices)”. Statistics on the NSO's Property Price Index, which is based on actual transactions in residential property, are available on Eurostat.

Other FAQs on statistics

Q: Can I use statistics directly with computer programs?
A: You can use statistics shown on the website easily and directly with regular computer applications as all data are in excel format.

If you have other queries, please contact us by e-mail.

Charging Policy

The Bank will consider requests for statistics on a case-by-case basis. If it is deemed that a particular request would make substantial demands on its manpower and resources, the Bank may refuse the request. Alternatively it may levy a charge, as indicated below:

Fixed charge:	€10.00 excluding VAT
Hourly charge:	€20.00 excluding VAT

In cases where charges are applicable, the requesting party will be informed about the charges due and work on the request will commence only upon acceptance and confirmation of the amount due.

Copyright Information

The Bank reserves the copyright of all statistics published by it and should be acknowledged as the source whenever data acquired from it are reproduced by others.