From those in the know: Economist Gordon Cordina on Malta’s economic outlook in 2025

Malta’s growth forecast may be on tract, but business sentiment among CEOs and business leaders is divided for 2025. In the first part of this series, we zoom in on the views of leading local economist Gordon Cordina. 

As a leading economist in the Maltese islands and a graduate of both the University of Cambridge and the University of Malta, Gordon Cordina brings over 25 years of experience across banking, policymaking, academia, and private sector consultancy to his role as Chairman of Bank of Valletta. 

Amid global geopolitical upheaval and monetary shifts, Gordon believes Malta’s economy continues to thrive, driven by tourism, export-oriented services and higher value-added manufacturing. 

This growth, supported by an expansionary budget, has ripple effects on domestic sectors like retail, construction and real estate. 

However, he warns against obsessively pursuing growth at the expense of long-term improvements. 

“Malta needs a consensus between leaders in business and public policy to attain key deliverables over the coming years, and to regenerate growth into durable benefits.” 

He offers examples such as requiring employers of foreign workers to invest in integration services, curbing land price increases to align with inflation and implementing behavioural measures to ease traffic congestion. 

“Malta need not reinvent the wheel but merely emulate successful practices elsewhere. Early and small successes would enhance the credibility of such initiatives,” he asserts.

This forms part of a feature first published on Malta CEOs 2025, the sister print brand to MaltaCEOs.mt, both owned by Content House