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2 NEWS 25.2.2021 PAUL COCKS AS at end December 2020, there were 2,373 loans subject to a moratorium on repayments, standing at €748.7 million, or 6.4% of total outstanding loans to Maltese residents. e total value of loans subject to a moratorium in December edged down when compared with November, declin- ing by around €185 million, according to the Central Bank of Malta's latest Eco- nomic Update. In response to the outbreak of COV- ID-19 and the subsequent containment measures, several businesses and house- holds were faced with liquidity chal- lenges, and thus applied with monetary financial institutions (MFIs) in Malta for a moratorium on loan repayments. Loans subject to a moratorium de- clined for the fourth consecutive time since March 2020, suggesting that some businesses and households have recom- menced regular loan repayments, signal- ling a recovery in income flows. When compared with a month earlier, the largest declines in euro and volume terms were observed in the household, wholesale and retail as well as real estate sectors. e largest number of loans covered by moratoria was held by households, with the sector accounting for 64.3% of the total volume of loans subject to a mora- torium. Maltese households held €137.6 million, or 18.4%, of the total value of loans subject to a moratorium, equiv- alent to 2.2% of outstanding household loans. Meanwhile, the accommodation and food services activities sector held €213.1 million in loans subject to a mor- atorium. is is the sector most affect- ed by the containment measures and, in fact, 42.1% of the loans held by this sec- tor were subject to a moratorium by the end of December. e real estate sector held €188.9 mil- lion in loans subject to a moratorium, or around 25.2% of such loans – equivalent to slightly less than a fifth of the sector's outstanding loans. Moreover, as at end-December, the wholesale and retail trade sector held €31.0 million in loans subject to a mora- torium, making up 4.1% of loans subject to a moratorium, or 4.7% of loans held by the sector. To further alleviate liquidity challeng- es, the Government launched the Malta Development Bank (MDB) COVID-19 Guarantee Scheme (CGS) for the pur- pose of guaranteeing new loans granted by commercial banks for working capital purposes to businesses facing liquidity shortfalls as a result of the pandemic. e scheme enables credit institutions to leverage government guarantees up to a total portfolio volume of €777.8 mil- lion. By end December, 537 facilities were approved under the CGS, covering total sanctioned lending of €408.1 million. As the scheme provides loans for work- ing capital, only €287.1 million were dis- bursed by the end of December, up from the €252.7 million disbursed by the end of November. us, by the end of 2020, slightly more than half of the scheme was sanctioned, while slightly more than a third was dis- bursed. In terms of the number of facilities, the sector comprising wholesale and retail activities applied for the largest number of facilities and had the largest value of sanctioned loans at €95.1 million. is was followed by accommodation and food services activities, with 122 fa- cilities making up a total of €93.1 million in sanctioned loans, and the sector com- prising transportation and ICT, which had a total sanctioned amount of €39.4 million. Loans subject to moratorium – as at end December 2020 Volume of Outstanding Share in sector's loans amounts outstanding (€ millions) loans (%) Households 1,526 137.6 2.2 Manufacturing 50 8.5 3.9 Construction 31 18.3 2.9 Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles & motor cycles 135 31.0 4.7 Transportation and storage and information and communication 52 18.6 6.3 Accommodation and food service activities 224 213.1 42.1 Real estate activities 146 188.9 18.5 Other 210 132.6 6.6 Total 2,373 748.7 6.4 INDIS Malta will be assisting those arti- sans at Ta' Qali CRafts Village who have fallen behind in building their business premises, minister for the economy and industry Silvio Schembri has an- nounced. "e artisanal village in Ta' Qali will be ready by the end of this year. As a Min- ister, I directed INDIS Malta to help those artisans who have fallen behind in building their business premises," Schembri said, after touring ongoing works at the village. He said that, while works on the key components of the common infrastruc- ture were completed in March 2019, some of the artisans and businesses operating in the area could not keep up, and therefore the government felt it should offer its assistance. "To this end, at the beginning of Feb- ruary, as a government together with INDIS Malta, we have worked on a framework agreement, whereby con- tractors will be hired at pre-established rates by INDIS Malta on behalf of the artisans, who will, in due course, pay INDIS Malta over an agreed period of years," he said. "rough the support provided by this agreement, the construction on all the remaining plots that need to be reno- vated to complement the rest of the vil- lage will start next June." Schembri said that around 35 artisans have already expressed their interest in the agreement for the construction of the remaining plots. Just under 20 artisans launched their construction works before this agree- ment, and almost half of them are al- ready working from their new premises. e rest are those who have yet to start construction, but who, in any case, will not be using the INDIS Malta agree- ment but will be using their own con- tractor. ese will be required to commit themselves to completing the construc- tion of their plot. 2,373 loans subject to a moratorium on repayments as at end December 2020 INDIS Malta to assist Ta' Qali Crafts Village artisans with premises construction Minister Silvio Schembri (left) met artisans at Ta' Qali Crafts Village

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