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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JUNE 2021 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA MORE local councils are joining in a silent campaign to curb public drunkenness by enacting fines for consumers of alcohol outdoors and who are not seated at a des- ignated area for bars and restau- rants. Even in the silent quarters of Għarb in Gozo, which hosts just two restaurants along its main and bills itself as a demen- tia-friendly village due to its ageing population... a €70 fine awaits those caught drinking out in the street. Originally, it was St Julian's that struck out on its own with a bye- law in 2008 intended at inflict- ing a €65 fine on anyone caught drinking in a select number of streets inside and just off Pace- ville. The bye-law intended at curbing on the public nuisance of clubbers and other partygoes drinking outside bars or clubs with cheaper alcohol bought at nearby bottle-shops. Since then, more villages have joined St Julian's, whose amend- ed bye-law now covers all its streets and not just Paceville. Gżira, whose seafront is now replete with restaurants and bars, became the second local council to introduce a €70 fine on public drinking after reports of rowdiness outside bars cater- ing to late-night workers in the town's growing office areas. Both Marsa and Ħamrun, Are you all sitting comfortably? Then you can drink All bye-laws banning alcohol consumption in public Year Locality Prohibition Fine for owners/consumers 2021 Gharb €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2021 St Paul's Bay €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2021 Isla €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2020 Msida** €70 fine, €10 daily for continued breach 2019 St Julian's* €65 fine, €10 daily for continued breach 2019 Hamrun €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2017 Marsa €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2017 Victoria €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2017 Gzira €70 fine, €15 daily for continued breach 2008 St Julian's €65 fine, €10 daily for continued breach * St Julian's extended its designated streets to the entire town ** Consumption at designated table areas, except during the tit- ular feast of St Joseph in Msida, activities permitted by the local council or the Commissioner of Police, and other establishments licensed by the PA and MTA Even Gharb, Gozo's sleepy village, is banning public drinking Nine Maltese villages, from St Julian's to Għarb in Gozo, now ban consumption of alcohol in public councils that have com- plained over drunken and disorderly migrant workers living in cheap housing and a nearby asylum reception centre, have enacted the €70 fines in 2017 and 2019 respectively. In 2020, Msida followed suit, and since then Isla and St Paul's Bay have enacted the €70 fines. The Gozitan capital Victoira al- so enacted a bye-law. Gzira mayor Conrad Borg Manché had said his local council wanted to "make the streets safe" by banning al- cohol consumption in pub- lic spaces, complaining that punters were blocking shop entrances and pavements while drinking. "It's unfair that people are being forced to walk on the street because many, who are consuming alcohol outside shops and bars occupy the entire pave- ment," he had said. MATTHEW VELLA MONEYVAL concerns and the prospects of a global minimum tax have featured in the latest Fitch rating for Malta, satis- factory though the assessment may be. Fitch said uncertainty remains about how sustained recent im- provements in addressing the significant deficiencies of Mal- ta's anti-money laundering and funding of terrorism frame- work, will be. Moneyval announced that Malta is now ranked largely compliant or compliant on all initial 40 recommendations to prevent money-laundering and strengthen financial supervi- sion. But the Financial Action Task Force will use Moneyval's tech- nical assessment as an input to determine if Malta is reclassi- fied as a high-risk jurisdiction, a decision expected to be tak- en later in June. "If Malta was placed on a grey list, reputa- tional issues could diminish the attractiveness of its financial sector," Fitch said. The potential introduction of a global minimum tax and pres- sure on low-tax jurisdictions to raise effective tax rates may al- so pose a downside risk to pub- lic finances for Malta. Malta is an attractive low-tax destination for international companies: such tax revenue accounts for around 17% of to- tal tax revenues. "Any potential impact will depend on the de- tails of the agreement, which is expected to be reached during the G20 meetings this sum- mer." And the European Commis- sion's ongoing infringement procedure into Malta's citizen- ship investment programme – now replaced by the Citizen- ship by Direct Investment pro- gramme – could risk it reve- nues of around €100 million or 0.7% of GDP. Fitch still affirmed Malta at A+ rating with a stable outlook, despite public finances deterio- rating significantly from a sur- plus of 0.4% of GDP in 2019 to a deficit of 10.2% of GDP in 2020. This was down to the compre- hensive fiscal stimulus package to safeguard employment and growth during COVID-19, in- cluding 5% of GDP in direct fis- cal measures and an additional 1.5% in tax deferrals. But the 2020 fiscal deteriora- tion was the second largest in the EU and well above the EU average fiscal deficit of 6.9% of GDP. The fiscal deficit turned out to be marginally larger than projected by the govern- ment, largely due to the under- performance of tax revenues, which declined by 11% year- on-year. Fitch projects a fiscal deficit of 11.5% this year, while growth forecast of 4.7% is more opti- mistic than the 3.8% forecast presented in Malta's Stability Programme. "We believe that there may be some underspend- ing as the economy recovers in the second half of the year... The budget also foresees higher investment spending, amount- ing to 5.4% of GDP in 2021, partly supported by a num- ber of infrastructure projects in the tourism, transportation and health sector. We expect the deficit to narrow markedly to 5.4% of GDP in 2022, driv- en by the cyclical recovery and the phasing-out of COVID-19 stimulus measures." And while debt-to-GDP ratio will peak at 65.5% of GDP in 2022, it will gradually fall back to below 60% of GDP by 2026. International tourism re- ceipts, which amounted to 12.5% of GDP in 2019, will only gradually recover to pre-pan- demic levels in light of inter- national travel restrictions and quarantine requirements. Arrivals in 2021 will remain 55% lower compared with pre-pandemic levels but the gap will substantially narrow to 15% by 2022. Uncertainty remains about when the UK will add Malta to its so-called "green list", allowing quar- antine-free travel for British tourists, which accounted for almost a quarter of all tourist arrivals in 2019. Fitch: Malta A+ rating but uncertainty on sustained Moneyval reforms