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09.04.2020 3 NEWS FROM PAGE 1 Finance Minister Edward Scicluna told BusinessToday that the major dis- agreements registered were between Nordic countries and southern member states – excluding Malta. Italy and the Netherlands were found clashing on the conditions for eurozone credit for governments fighting the pandemic, with the latter insisting on "phase" conditionality in case of using ESM's credit lines and Rome demand- ing that no conditions be attached. According to reports, Italy's Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said his gov- ernment wouldn't accept a final report sent to EU leaders unless it explicitly mentioned debt mutualisation as a tool for the economic recovery. "We Maltese, by our very nature, are somewhere in between these two ex- tremities," Scicluna said. "In general we are for solidarity. We have shown it in the past with regards to countries needing a bail-out but we also want our liabilities known, apportioned and capped." He said that Malta was for using the ESM like the International Monetary Fund and remove its existing stigma to be used for this crises or any other one in the future. "However on Tuesday night (or was it this morning?) we as Maltese made a plea to our colleagues to accept the compromise text since the health and economic problems out there are much, much bigger than the technical issues and problems we were discussing in the meeting," Scicluna told BusinessToday. "If the EU fails in this hour of need it can pack up." He said there were many members states who supported his plea. "I have no doubt that today we will see an agreement but not before some showmanship and some cliffhanger ne- gotiations," Scicluna said. "I know. I am longest serving finance minister in the meeting." What's on the table Scicluna explained that, going into the Eurogroup meeting, the EU presidency had already taken into consideration the various red lines between the mem- bers, the areas of agreement and above all what the Commission and other EU institutions were proposing. In short, the Eurogroup had before it a compro- mise text. "Essentially it contained a package recognising the flexibility given to indi- vidual governments by the Commission so far regarding state aid and basing its added boost through four pillars which are meant to assist the countries face the enormous physical and econom- ic health challenges and leading to the much sought economic recovery," Sci- cluna said. e first two pillars dealt with how member states should make use of their European financial institutions – the European Investment Bank and the ESM. e European Investment Bank was offering a €25 billion guarantee fund to member states, which translates into €200 billion of financing for EU enter- prises, mostly SMEs. e offer of the ESM which was set up to bail out countries and which still carries a stigma was the biggest bone of contention. "ere were those who expected to be- have like a bank and issue a Eurobond, referred to as Coronabond," Scicluna said. "e bottom line is to help weaker countries who would be able to issue debt and expect mutualisation of a guarantee, for which all EU countries would be jointly and severally liable. Failing that it could issue credit lines to Eurozone countries and balance of pay- ments facility to non-Eurozone ones." Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch Finance Minister maintained his hardline stance against issuing a common debt with other EU nations to share the burden of the Covid-19 pandemic. "NL was and remains against the idea of Eurobonds, we think this will create more problems than solutions for the EU. We would have to guarantee debts of other coun- tries which isn't reasonable. e majori- ty of the Eurogroup shares this view and does not support Eurobonds," he wrote on Twitter. e third instrument - SURE - is also a loan-based instrument to provide fi- nancial assistance related to wage and jobs support. e fourth instrument is the creation of a recovery fund to invest in the EU in the aftermath of the crises. Malta issues rally call for compromise on EU fiscal measures to counter coronavirus impact Mário Centeno, Eurogroup's President suspended the Eurogroup meeting for today after 16 hours of discussions MATTHEW VELLA MALTA has recorded its first death from the COVID-19 pandemic, a 92-year-old wom- an from Gozo. e news comes on the day that a one-month-old baby was diagnosed as one of six new cases of COVID-19 registered in Malta overnight. e woman died at around 6pm at the Gozo General Hos- pital were she was recovering. She had significant underlying conditions that included diabe- tes and a heart condition. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced the death this evening. While offering the government's sympathy with the family, Fearne said that the woman was in a very vul- nerable state, which was made worse by the coronavirus. "Unfortunately, this will not be the first and last death. We can see what is happening across the world and Malta is no exception," he said, urging people to respect social dis- tancing rules. "We have to protect the most vulnerable amongst us... we ask you to stand with us in this challenge because together we can win. e coming weekend is normally an occasion for families to meet at home to celebrate Easter, but I ask you this year, to forego these cele- brations. By and large, people are obeying the directives not gather in public but we also have to avoid family gather- ings," he cautioned. Public Health Superinten- dent Charmaine Gauci said all healthcare workers stood in si- lence when the woman's death was notified. "Although this would have been something we could have expected given the woman's underlying condi- tions, it shocks you," she said. Gauci could not say from where the woman could have contracted the virus. "She had contact with visitors and like we have said, people may have the virus without showing any symptoms," she said. e total number of cases of COVID-19 has now risen to 299, including the dead wom- an. Five have fully recovered. Overnight, a record 993 tests were carried out. One of the new cases was that of a 56-year- old healthcare worker, who had no contact with patients. Gauci said routine testing of patients who were to undergo an operation have uncovered more cases of people who reg- ister positive without showing symptoms. is was worrying from a public health perspec- tive, she told a press conference earlier in the day. "It worries us because we may have people out there who have the virus but are unaware that they can transmit it to others. is is why the recommenda- tions for social and physical distancing are important be- cause no one can tell whether a person is positive," Gauci in- sisted. She urged caution on the low number of new cases that came on the back of 52 cases recorded on Tuesday, the high- est number of new cases so far. "We are still at the start of the curve and we expect it to get worse... if everybody obeys the recommendations to stay in- side as much as possible and maintain social distancing we will be able to reduce the rate of spread," she said, urging peo- ple to cooperate. Malta records its first death from the COVID-19 pandemic Elderly woman had several underlying conditions that made her vulnerable Chris Fearne

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