Cyprus and Malta have a lot in common: Mediterranean islands enjoying 10 months of sunshine a year, they joined the European Union in 2004, use the euro and have banking sectors that dwarf their economies, Reuters reported.

There are so many similarities that some investors have wondered whether Malta might follow Cyprus in needing a bailout to survive the region's economic crisis.

But Malta's risk profile is far different to that of Cyprus, which received a 10-billion-euro aid package last month aimed at preventing its collapse and a possible exit from the euro zone.

On the basis of banking risk and its economy, it seems unlikely that it will be the next euro member - after Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - to need rescuing.

"The business model of the financial sector in Malta is not as shady and controversial as it was in Cyprus," said Carsten Brzeski, economist with ING bank in Brussels. "The picture is also different at the macro level ... Malta should be off the screens for quite some time."

The European Commission expects growth on the small island economy of just 450,000 people to pick up this year and next, driven by rising domestic demand and increased net exports.