Out of 63 countries evaluated by German Scope Ratings agency, Malta has placed among the top five countries in the world in respect of their ability to resist the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The only European Union country to obtain such a high placing, Malta is beaten out by Taiwan, China, Switzerland and Thailand, while countries Cyprus, Croatia and Romania are very low on the classification list.

The positive certification is owing to the excellent state of Malta’s international balance of payments, which registers among the highest surpluses in the world, according to the experts at Scope Ratings, along with low national debt.

The certification also follows on the conclusions of international rating agencies Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s , which all agreed on Malta’s stable rating over the past weeks.

The IMF has also forecast that Malta will suffer the least economic impact due to the pandemic among all EU countries.