Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1287818
TRUTH IS OF NO COLOUR WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 LET'S BE FRANK We would rather show you 3 perfect homes, than 10 maybes. Local. Experienced. Personal. Frank. Since 1969. franksalt.com.mt franksalt.com.mt SUNDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 • ISSUE 1089 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY MATTHEW VELLA THE COVID-19 pandemic will contract the Maltese econ- omy by 8% in 2020, Standard & Poor's said in a credit rating that affirmed Malta's A-, A-2 status and a stable outlook. Thanks to its declining debt, Malta will be able to mount a robust recovery in 2021-2022, according to S&P. High income levels, recur- rent current account sur- pluses, and reduced fiscal imbalances will aid Malta's recovery, but S&P has high- lighted regulatory oversight of the financial sector and its an- ti-money-laundering frame- work. But S&P said Malta will ex- perience a sharp recession with an 8% contraction in 2020, despite the govern- ment's comprehensive pack- age of emergency measures. COVID-19 will deliver sharp recession PAGE 3 maltatoday maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 The Q&A Composer Philip Vella This Week Illustrator Steven Scicluna CLASSIFIEDS & COMMERCIALS ARTS • TV • WHAT'S ON MATTHEW VELLA STEWARD Healthcare is facing a $5 million claim in a London court from an American investor who loaned Vitals Global Healthcare millions in their initial bid to obtain the controversial hospitals privatisation in Malta. A London court will allow Steward to defend its case against the claim made by medical professional Ambrish Gupta, whose Medical Associates of Northern Virginia (MANV) was an early investor in the Vitals project, back in 2015. But apart from fighting the claim, Stew- ard is acknowledging that Gupta's claim might be invalid because of allegations of corruption made against Vitals in the Maltese press, an ongoing magisterial in- quiry into the Vitals concession, and a re- cent NAO audit of the hospi- tals' privatisation. PAGE 2 BEAUTY QUEEN Anthea's battle against low-self esteem PAGE 16 Man of the people Philip Vella gets the third degree in our Q&A MT3 Vitals investor chases Steward for $5 million in London courts €1.95 WHATSAPP BROS Why the politics of smartphone diplomacy have to change PAGES 14-15 St Luke's Hospital: the original concession for three state hospitals to Vitals is the subject of a magisterial inquiry