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3 NEWS 3.2.2022 FROM PAGE 1 "COVID-19 has severely disrupted the labour market, as many foreign workers left the country and numerous workers opting for early retirement," he said. "As the country starts to ease restric- tion measures, the challenge now - as in many countries abroad - is to see that this trend is reversed in as short time as possible." e MDB this week announced a further six-month extension to the scheme, after the European Commis- sion adopted in November 2021 a lim- ited prolongation of six months of the State aid Temporary Framework, until 30 June 2022. is will allow EU member states, where needed, to extend their support schemes and ensure that businesses still affected by the crisis will not be cut off from necessary support. To this end, the MDB wrote to the Commission to extend the Bank's Cov- id-19 facilities in line with the amend- ments of the Temporary Framework and in its decision of 12 January 2022, the European Commission approved the requested prolongation of the MDB's existing Covid-19 schemes until 30 June 2022. In its latest notification, the MDB also asked the European Commission to al- ter some of the terms of the CGS loans, both new and existing, to provide for more flexibility where needed. In its decision the European Commis- sion approved that, in exceptional cases and at the discretion of the commercial banks, the loan term can be extended from six years to a maximum of eight years (inclusive of the moratorium pe- riod). Bonnici said that many business- es were still sustaining considerable expenses, including rent, loan repay- ments, overheads and wages, while in- come had been severely affected by the pandemic. He said that the objective of the MDB's schemes is to preserve the continuity of economic activity during and after the COVID-19 outbreak, thus ensur- ing that undertakings impacted by the pandemic continue to have access to the necessary bank facilities to finance their working capital. As these facilities will now continue running until end June 2022, business- es requiring such financing are en- couraged to approach one of the nine accredited commercial banks interme- diating the schemes. Moreover, the extension is also appli- cable to MDB's COVID-19 Interest Rate Subsidy Scheme, whereby applicants can still benefit from a grant of up to 2.5 percentage points on the interest paya- ble on the CGS loans for the first two years of the term, Bonnici explained. MDB's intervention through the CGS was crucial in ensuring that Maltese businesses survive the severe liquidity constraints they were facing due to re- strictions brought forward by the pan- demic spread. Launched in April 2020, MDB's CGS is leveraging on a Government guaran- tee of €350 million by mobilising com- mercial banks' liquidity into the flow of credit to the real economy. rough the CGS, the MDB is provid- ing a guarantee of 90% on new working capital loans granted by commercial banks and this capital relief is ena- bling the creation of a portfolio of up to €777.8 million in new working capital loans to all businesses, regardless of size or sector. Eligible working capital costs under the CGS include wages, rental costs and utility bills, among others. Covid Guarantee Scheme loan term can now be extended to eight years ATLAS Insurance and its employees have once again taken the initiative to support the Foodbank Lifeline Foun- dation, which produces a meal a day for hundreds of families or individuals in need. TeamAtlas participated in the Reverse Advent Calendar campaign launched within the organisation, which aimed at collecting non-perishable food items in special collection boxes at At- las's head offices and its branches. Despite many employees working remotely, many staff members still do- nated items which were delivered to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation in January. While working with restrictions re- lated to COVID-19, two small groups of Atlas volunteers went on-site to help members from the Foundation pack the food items to be delivered to fami- lies or individuals in need. "We are proud that our colleagues are always ready to come forward and lend a helping hand whenever we receive appeals for donations or voluntary work," said Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance. e Foodbank Lifeline Foundation receives information from care profes- sionals on families or individuals cur- rently facing a short-term crisis. Vol- unteers then provide emergency food supplies once a day to these families. Atlas staff help Foodbank package and deliver food

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