Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507984
12 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2023 THERE were 3,738 plug-in hybrid cars and 7,362 electric vehicles in Malta and Gozo by the end of August 2023, Trans- port Malta has announced. This increase in numbers, according to TM, demon- strated such grants were "well received" by the public. The government boosted its fund- ing for sustainable transporta- tion to €28.4 million, of which €13.4 million came from na- tional funds and €15 million came from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). In a statement, TM stated that government's commit- ment to promoting sustain- able transport alternatives is seen in TM's 2022 investment of more than €27.5 million in incentives. These kinds of pro- grammes encourage people to spend more money on electric and plug-in hybrid cars, which reduces emissions, the entity said. TM also noted that these schemes have reached over 5,549 beneficiaries, while €23.2 million of the €28.4 million allocated funds have already been accessed. Meanwhile, it was also said that while the grant for new motorcycles was allocated €1.3 million for 2023, Trans- port Malta was able to secure an additional €2.9 million with the aid of the finance minis- try, making a total of €4.2 mil- lion available for this scheme in 2023. TM stated that there were a total of 1,647 persons that qualified for the pro- gramme as the allocated funds were completely exhausted. TM added that Malta was successful in obtaining EU funds through the RRP as a contribution to address issues with the sharp rise in energy consumption and waste cre- ation brought on by, "rapid population growth, employ- ment, and GDP growth in re- cent years". These funds, totaling €50.3 million, were intended to be dispersed over a period of three years, with €15 million being allocated in 2022, €15 million more being allocated in 2023, and €20.3 million by the end of 2024. TM has requested and re- ceived approval from the EU to extend the €50.3 million spill- over from 2022 to the end of 2025. This implies that even in 2025, utilising EU RRP funds, the award in the form of a cash incentive will be accessible. Transport Malta notes 'significant increase' in electric, plug-in hybrid cars IN the second quarter of 2023 the hourly labour costs rose by 4.5% in the euro area and by 5.0% in the EU, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. These figures are published by Eurostat, the sta- tistical office of the European Union. The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non- wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries per hour worked increased by 4.6%, while the non-wage component rose by 4.0% in the second quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the EU, hourly wages & salaries increased by 5.1% and the non-wage component by 4.4% in the second quarter of 2023. Breakdown by economic activity In the second quarter of 2023 com- pared with the same quarter of the pre- vious year, hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 4.4% in the (mainly) non-business economy and by 4.5% in the business economy: +3.9% in indus- try, +4.2% in construction and +4.8% in services. In the EU, hourly labour cost grew by 4.7% in the (mainly) non-business econ- omy and by 5.0% in the business econ- omy: +4.7% in industry, +4.8 % in con- struction and +5.2% in services. Hourly wage costs across countries In the second quarter of 2023 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the highest increases in hourly wage costs for the whole economy were recorded in Hungary (+17.3%), Croatia and Slovenia (both +14.5%), Romania (+14.4%) and Bul- garia (+14.2%). Four more EU Member States recorded an increase above 10%, namely: Poland (+13.3%), Estonia (+13.1%), Lithuania (+12.4%) and Latvia (+12.3%). Wage costs In the EU, the economic activity that recorded the highest annual increase in hourly wage costs is NACE Rev. 2 section B – 'Mining and quarrying' (+12.0%). The lowest annual increase was re- corded in NACE Rev. 2 sections M – 'Professional, scientific and technical activities' (+2.5%) and L – 'Real estate activities' (+2.9%). Non-wage costs The economic activities with the big- gest annual increases in the non-wage component were: NACE Rev. 2 section B – 'Mining and quarrying' (+14.4%) and I – 'Accommodation and food ser- vice activities' (+10.1%). The lowest annual increase was re- corded in NACE Rev. 2 section L – 'Re- al estate activities' (+0.7%). Annual increase in labour costs at 4.5% in euro area