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19.12.19 3 NEWS Issued by Bank of Valle a p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valle a VLT 1130. Bank of Valle a p.l.c. is a public limited company regulated by the MFSA and is licensed to carry out the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta). NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS Bank of Valle a will be upgrading its IT systems. In view of this, the Bank will be offering limited services as from Friday 27 December 2019. The Bank will be closed for business on Monday 30, Tuesday 31 December 2019 and Wednesday 1 January 2020 (Public Holiday). It will resume opera ons and banking services as from 8.30 am on Thursday 2 January 2020. During this period, customers will be able to con nue using their BOV Cards and BOV Pay in the normal manner, in all retail stores, restaurants and all other outlets locally, abroad, and online. Cash withdrawals and balance enquiries will also remain available from all BOV ATMs. Customers may also withdraw cash from non-BOV ATMs locally and abroad*. The Customer Service Centre will be available for repor ng lost or stolen cards and card fraud. All other services including payments, BOV Internet Banking and BOV Mobile Banking will not be available throughout this period as from the following cut-off mes. Date Cut-off Time Services interrupted: Back in service Friday 27 December 12:00 pm ATM Services - Deposits (cash & cheques), Viewing of Recent Transac ons, Transfer between Accounts, Cheque Book and Deposit Book Orders through ATMs Nightsafe Deposit Facility Services interrupted will resume as at Thursday 2 January 2020 at 8:30 am BOV Cards, BOV Pay and Cash Withdrawals from ATMs will operate normally throughout the whole upgrade period 2:00 pm Payment services through all channels (including payments through Branches and Internet Banking) Saturday 28 December 11:00 am Branches (will close at 11:00 am instead of 12.30 pm) 5:00 pm Internet and Mobile Banking systems Monday 30 December BOV closed for business Tuesday 31 December BOV closed for business Wednesday 1 January Public Holiday Thursday 2 January BOV open for business at 8.30 am Bank of Valle a encourages its customers to carry out the banking transac ons they require for this period by Friday 27 December 2019 as per cut-off mes above, including transfers to their card linked accounts to ensure that they have access to enough funds throughout the upgrade period. The Bank apologises for this temporary interrup on of its services and for any inconvenience caused to customers. More informa on is available on www.bov.com/content/upgrade, by calling 2124 7822 or by sending an email to systemupgrade@bov.com. *Normal Charges apply FROM PAGE 1 A Central Bank spokes- person told BusinessToday that, for the current study, the Bank looked at best- and worst-case scenarios. A best-case scenario would be one where the UK will have access to a free-trade or cus- toms-union-like agreement with the EU both during the transition period and at the end of the Brexit process, while a worst-case one would assume unsuccessful negotia- tions between the UK and the EU, as a result of which the trade agreement between the two parties would default to WTO rules. Given its openness, the Maltese economy is likely to be affected by Brexit in two ways, the spokesperson said. Firstly, foreign demand for Maltese exports is likely to slow down due to subdued economic growth in the UK, as well as indirectly by the likely slowdown in EU and US economic growth. Secondly, the real effec- tive exchange rate for Malta is likely to be negatively af- fected by the depreciation of Sterling vis-à-vis the euro, and positively affected by the appreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the euro. Once weighted for their rel- ative importance in the Mal- tese trade basket, the pro- jections result in a peak fall of 0.7% on Maltese foreign demand under the worst-case scenario, as opposed to a fall of around 0.3% under the best-case scenario. The main contributor to the fall in GDP would originate from outside Malta. The fall in demand brought about by a slowdown in exports would result in more slack in the labour market which would in turn ease the pressure on wage growth which would eventually lead to a slowdown in private consumption and investment, and subsequent- ly a fall in domestic demand. The spokesperson said that, according to the Bank's find- ings, even under the most pessimistic of scenarios, the effects of Brexit on the Mal- tese economy were expected to remain contained, noting that even the latest interna- tional studies suggest that Brexit might have a lower ef- fect on the UK and EU econ- omies, when compared to the earlier reports used in the 2017 study. There is a caveat to the findings, the spokesperson highlight: the results above should be treated with cau- tion given the high degree of uncertainty that still sur- rounds the terms of the UK's exit from the EU. In addition, international studies could be underesti- mating the economic impact of the exit process, meaning it could be worse than ex- pected – but this could be offset by the possibility that Malta could benefit if UK companies relocated to the island. The final outcome of the Brexit process depends both on the agreement (or lack of ) reached at the current junc- ture as well as on the future negotiations which are likely to take place in the following years. The full study can be ac- cessed at: https://www.cen- t r a l b a n k m a l t a . o rg / e n / e c o - nomic-projections. The Central Bank of Malta's Brexit Task Force was formed in autumn 2017 and has been regularly monitoring the situation since then. Caution advised due to uncertainty on UK/EU trade talks

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