Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1225830
26.03.2020 3 NEWS FROM PAGE 1 Companies falling under this "second tier" include those in the manufactur- ing, car sale, cargo handling, newspaper publishing and broadcasting sectors, all of which will be indirectly impacted by the coronavirus. Mamo noted that, after having an- nounced a €1.81 billion financial aid package which was widely criticised for being insufficient in terms of tangible help for businesses, the government had subsequently heeded the concerns of the social partners, albeit falling short of providing equal assistance to all workers in the private sector. "We are glad our perseverance has borne fruit but there are more that need this help and we will continue working with the government and voicing our members' concerns until who needs help gets it," Mamo said. She said that the Chamber "wants to see equal support." "If not a wage subsidy, there should be an equivalent cash injection that will give these companies the necessary li- quidity, without risking any more than they are already risking, and that will help them retain their employees," she said. Mamo said that, in addition to the cash injection for wages, the country also urgently needed a tax moratorium for businesses and their employees. "We are looking literally at all the running costs a business might have and where possible we are working on suspending these costs so that the priority would be to sustain [the company's] functioning in whatever form this is, and keep peo- ple in employment." On his part, Grech underlined that, of around 164,000 private sector workers in Malta, the government's measures would mostly be helping 60,000 people who worked in the industries most af- fected by the measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19. He said that the Nationalist Party was in no way criticising the assistance giv- en to those 60,000 hospitality and relat- ed industries' workers, and emphasised that these needed the help they were being given. However, he said that government's measures should apply to all those who were suffering the consequences of the pandemic – including businesses and workers having to cope with the indi- rect effects, such as companies provid- ing media content, which have been hit by a drastic drop in advertising reve- nue. "e government should not be selec- tive when it comes to the different in- dustries. [...] e measures should apply to all those who are in any way suffering the implications of the pandemic," he said. "We need to ensure jobs are safeguard- ed. is is a crisis, and we will all suffer. But we must safeguard people's em- ployment, so that when the crisis pass- es – and we are optimistic that this is temporary – we won't have a situation where jobs would have been lost and enterprises find it difficult to restart their operations." Asked whether he felt the government had enough resources to help everyone, Grech said the issue wasn't a matter of a "bottomless pit." "We are not saying the government has to do something beyond its means. But it has all the needed tools," he said, highlighting the fact that the Europe- an Central Bank and European Com- mission had made available liquidity facilities and funding packages to help member states survive the crisis. 'No business will end up lost' – Economy Minister Questioned by BusinessToday on the matter, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said the government had pro- gressively improved its economic aid measures. "is is a fluid situation and not all in- dustries are going to be impacted in the same way. rough the first measures, we sought to first protect those jobs that are most hard hit by these circumstanc- es, such as tourism, accommodation, restaurants, rentals of motor vehicles, employment activities, travel agents, security, entertainment, service to building activities, transport, retail and personal activities (barbers, beauticians etc.)," Schembri said. "Every time measures were an- nounced, we came forward with an even more sustained and improved economic package, which reflect this government's commitment to serve as a shoulder to those facing economic hardship." He said that the government would keep up its discussions with social partners in order to offer more target- ed economic assistance. "I understand that there are more specific sectors which we need to as- sist. We shall continue to discuss with constituted bodies to help with more specific tailor-made economic assis- tance so that no business with a wall in front of it will end up lost in this eco- nomic storm. I understand that every successful business contributed to the economy in terms of creating more wealth, jobs for our people and paid tax," he said. "We're constantly analysing how the situation unfolds and we shall take the necessary action to help other sectors which are asking for government sup- port," Schembri stressed. "We took action to help those most in need and we shall continue to reach out to those who still have more steam to go on. My duty is to see that we do whatever is required to help as many businesses as possible to brave these difficult times. Our main goal remains that of safeguarding as many jobs as possible and helping businesses pre- serve their structures to rebound steadily when we're out of this storm," he added. 'Package might need to be reviewed' Malta Employers' Association direc- tor Joseph Farrugia told this newspa- per that the latest steps the govern- ment had taken were "generally good" and addressed those sectors which had seen the highest numbers of com- panies buckling under the pressure of Covid-19's economic havoc. He noted, however, that other sec- tors – such as manufacturing and pub- lishing – had also been affected. "e longer the situation lasts, the more the current financial aid package might need to be revised," he said. Farrugia, however, acknowledged that the government had to be cautious about not dividing its resources across all sectors to such an extent that each industry would end up getting insuffi- cient help. "If it were for me, I would give bene- fits to all. But we must be fair with the government and concede that if it were to pay €800 to all workers, its reserves would dry up fast," he said. Hotels went from running a business to zero income – Tony Zahra Asked by BusinessToday for his reac- tion to arguments that the hospitality sector had unfairly benefitted from government aid compared to other in- dustries, Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association president Tony Zahra said that businesses in the sector he repre- sented had, practically overnight, gone from doing well to generating no reve- nue at all. "I represent hotels and restaurants, so I cannot speak for other sectors. We went from running a business to hav- ing zero income," he said, "e situa- tion wasn't sustainable." He underscored that his role was to speak up for the sector he represented. "I can't lobby for those I don't repre- sent," he said, remarking that, from a personal perspective, some of his pri- vate businesses had not been included in the latest government aid package. 'Package might need to be reviewed' – Employers' lobby Economy minister Silvio Schembri