News

New economic measures announced by the Government of Malta in order to alleviate the effects of COVID-19

COVID-19 news

25 March 2020

Further to the financial package previously announced by the Government of Malta, additional economic measures were announced by the Government on 24 March 2020 with a view to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the economy and safeguard employment.

The following is a summary of the announced measures.

Measures relating to employment

  • Full-time employees of qualifying businesses (including self-employed persons) that have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 (Annex A), shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of five days per week based on a monthly salary of €800. Employers should continue paying the difference in salary up to at least a maximum of €400. This measure represents an increase in the amount of the grant originally announced by the Government on 18 March 2020. Part-time employees shall be entitled to a monthly grant of up to €500 to be determined on a pro-rata basis.
  • Full-time employees of qualifying businesses that have been impacted less by COVID-19 (Annex B), shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of one day per week, amounting to €160 per month. Part-time employees shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of one day per week, amounting to €100 per month.
  • Full-time employees of qualifying business based in Gozo that have been impacted less by COVID-19 (Annex B), shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of two days per week, amounting to €320 per month. Part-time employees of qualifying business based in Gozo shall be entitled a grant equivalent to the salary of two days per week, amounting to €200 per month.
  • Self-employed persons of qualifying businesses that have been impacted less by COVID-19 (Annex B) and that have employees, shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of two days per week, amounting to €320 per month.
  • Self-employed persons of qualifying businesses based in Gozo that have been impacted less by COVID-19 (Annex B), shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of two days per week, amounting €320 per month. Those self-employed persons that have employees shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of three days per week, amounting to €480 per month and the employees shall be entitled to a grant equivalent to the salary of two days per week.

The above measures shall apply retrospectively from 9 March 2020 and shall also apply to employers opting to re-hire any employees made redundant during this period. The said measures shall be applicable for an initial period of three months and it is not excluded that there may be adjustments or renewals regarding these measures during this period.

Businesses may access an online portal via the Malta Enterprise website in order to identify measures which they may be eligible to benefit from.

A list of eligible sectors may be found here.

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