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3 NEWS 10.3.2022 Cushioning war impact will cost over €200 million, Clyde Caruana says FROM PAGE 1 LPG is used for cooking and heating purposes and is supplied to households in cylinders of varying sizes. It is also used as a fuel in some cars and in indus- trial settings. In a statement issued later that day, Liquigas Malta said that it has secured supplies of LPG to meet demand in Malta for the foreseeable future. "Liquigas Malta has confirmed with the relevant authorities that it has se- cured supplies of LPG required to meet demand in Malta for the foreseeable fu- ture," the company said. Sources told BusinessToday that Liq- uigas only sourced a small percentage of gas from Russia. ey said that, following the Russian invasion, the company had already se- cured alternate supply sources, thanks to the support of SHV Energy, a Dutch company shareholder of Liquigas Mal- ta, which is a global leader in the dis- tribution of LPG across more than 25 countries worldwide. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the raft of sanctions imposed on Russia have forced international energy and fuel prices to shoot up. e war also threatens the global supply of grains and wheat since Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers. By tomorrow, EU leaders are expected to agree to reduce the bloc's depend- ence on Russian gas and oil. e move will impact Russia's main economic lifeline but it will also hit European con- sumers hard. e US and the UK have announced a ban of their own on Russian oil imports in a bid to tighten the economic noose around Vladimir Putin's regime. Government to do 'whatever it takes' to cushion impact of war Finance minister Clyde Caruana said the government is expected to spend more than the €200 million earmarked in the last budget to cushion the eco- nomic impact of war in Ukraine. He insisted the government would do "whatever it takes" to shield people and businesses from the economic shocks of war. "We will use more than €200 million earmarked in the last budget but we are able to do this because the deficit last year was lower than anticipated and this gives us more leeway," Caruana said on Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, Prime Minister Robert Abela pledged limitless financial support to cushion the impact of war on people and businesses. Caruana was asked about the size of the financial cushion government was willing to put up in the wake of the Ukraine war, which is also turning into an economic war. "We did all we could to save economy and jobs during the pandemic and now that we are experiencing a recovery we cannot allow the war to disrupt this," Caruana said. He said the war is causing supply shocks and the price of oil has shot up to what it was during the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Aid to sectors Prime Minister Robert Abela said ear- lier on Wednesday that the government would continue to provide financial support "whatever the cost" to ensure energy and fuel prices remain stable de- spite the Ukraine war. e Prime Minister added that target- ed help was being given to the animal husbandry sector that has been hit by higher costs in animal feed spurred by the war. "We will continue giving all the sup- port necessary to keep energy and fuel prices stable… we will protect the peo- ple [from inflation] and at this juncture of strong economic recovery we will continue to provide support to ensure growth," Abela said. Asked whether the figure of €200 mil- lion set aside by the Finance Minister in the last budget to cushion energy price rises would be revised upwards, Abela said support will continue being given "whatever the cost" and until it is nec- essary. Asked whether the Labour Party will be re-evaluating its electoral proposals in view of the changed international cir- cumstances because of the Ukraine war, Abela insisted the pledges are "costed and sustainable". Ukrainian refugees On Malta's humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Abela said that 26 Ukrainians had arrived here and applied for refugee status. "is morning we started talks with Puttinu Cares to assist children requir- ing cancer treatment. We will be treat- ing Ukrainian child cancer patients and Malta has also sent medical supplies," Abela said, adding that within its lim- itations, Malta will continue showing solidarity with Ukrainians. e Prime Minister was taking ques- tions after presiding over an announce- ment in Ħal Far of a new investment by Indian pharmaceuticals firm Torrent Pharma. During his speech, Abela said Malta will be assisting "our Ukrainian brothers and sisters" as he emphasised the need for peace and stability in Europe. Finance minister Clyde Caruana FOR the eighth year running, the Malta Bankers' Association (MBA) is organizing a series of events and ac- tivities in conjunction with European Money Week (EMW), which this year is being held between the 21 and 25 March 2022. EMW will focus on financial edu- cation and raise awareness amongst students about money and personal finances. Throughout this week, many finan- cial educational events will be organ- ised across Europe by the European Banking Federation (EBF), of which the MBA is a member and its other national banking associations. This year's programme of events for EMW 2022 is packed with various events, all of which centre around the themes chosen by the EBF and OECD/ INFE, namely 'Supercharging Finan- cial Skills' and 'Build your Future, be Smart about Money', respective- ly. All events have been organised by the MBA in collaboration with Home Economics Seminar Centre (HESC) within the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes (DLAP) of the Ministry for Education and Sport, the Malta Financial Services Authority, Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta ( JAYE), the Central Bank of Malta, the Malta Stock Ex- change Institute, GEMMA, the Cyber Crime Unit of the Malta Police and a representative from the insurance sector. The programme continues to build on the notion adopted a couple of years ago that financial literacy is much more extensive than just im- parting knowledge on banking servic- es and products. Accordingly, through this year's ven- ture the MBA and its partners have collaborated to encompass interven- tions with a more comprehensive fi- nancial significance. An event which was an intrinsic part of past editions of EMW will be the 'Financial Literacy Challenge' for Year 4 to Year 6 students and Year 7 to 11 students. This competitive event will require individual students and school teams to plan and implement projects aimed at promoting awareness related to fi- nancial literacy, education and inclu- sion. The MBA will award prizes to the winning and second-placed individu- als/school teams. EMW activities will again comprise a train-the-trainer event namely, a 'Professional Development Training' online session for teachers. This event will feature speakers from a number of areas connected with the wider definition and concept of financial lit- eracy as explained above. Other events planned include the 'Be Wise – Pay Smart' programme for those students forming part of the local Prince's Trust Group. JAYE will also deliver its 'Europe My Business' programme to two particular schools while the CBM will also contribute to the week's events through 'Be Money Smart', its newly launched online pro- gramme intended for Year 6 students in both state and non-state schools. The MBA, in collaboration with the Department of Accounting and Busi- ness Studies within the DLAP, will for the second year running, be organis- ing an online national competition on the 29 March in preparation for the EBF's European Money Quiz (EMQ). The national competition will select two participants who will represent Malta at the EMQ to be held on the 10 May. The MBA will award prizes to the first and second-placed students. The EMQ organised by the EBF has taken place since 2018 as a Europe- an-wide competition to improve the financial literacy skills of children be- tween the ages of 13 to 15 years. The quiz attracts hundreds of thou- sands of children from 30 European countries. European Money Week to promote financial literacy amongst youth

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