Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1525176
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 AUGUST 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS UNDER European Social Fund+ 2021-2027 The Ministry responsible for European Funds would like to announce that it is launching a call for project proposals in the following area: Priority 1 – Enhancing Employability and Labour Market Resilience Specific Objective: 4.1 – Access to employment and activation measures for all The call will close on 11 th November 2024 at noon. The online application form for the submission of project proposals and supporting documentation are available on https://fondi.eu/what-funding-is-available/. Prospective Applicants are encouraged to refer to the European Social Fund+ Programme and the Eligibility Guidance Notes in order to check whether their proposals are eligible for funding through this call for project proposals. Further information on this call and on the European Structural and Investment Funds may be obtained from https://fondi.eu/. Any query should be sent by email on fondi.eu@gov.mt. A dedicated information session is being organised on Monday, 9 th September, 2024 from 10:00 till 13:00 at the offices of Servizzi Ewropej f'Malta – 280, Republic Street, Valletta. Registration for the information session can be done by scanning the below QR code. Richest 10% in Malta worth €47 billion RECENT data published by the Central Bank has indicated a sig- nificant rise in wealth inequali- ty in Malta, with the wealthiest 10% now holding €47.1 billion, or 44.8% of the total household net wealth. This concentration of wealth is nearly four times that of the com- bined wealth held by the bottom 50% of households, which totals €12.6 billion. Additionally, it appears that the richest 10% in Malta own prac- tically 90% of Malta's business wealth. The new data, drawn from the European Central Bank's Distribu- tional Wealth Accounts (DWA), reveals that since the beginning of 2010, the net wealth of households in this top decile has grown by an astonishing 160.7%. In contrast, the bottom half of all households saw their net wealth increase by a more modest 94.1% during the same period. This shows that the size of the household wealth pie has effec- tively more than doubled since 2010, even while inequality con- tinued to increase: from €59.8 bil- lion in 2010, to €105.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. As a result, the share of net wealth held by the bottom 50% of house- holds has declined from 14.3% in 2010 to 12% in 2023, while the top 10% have increased their share by five percentage points, from 39.7% to 44.8%. The top 5% of households have seen a similar trend, with their share of wealth rising from 26.6% in 2010 to 31.7% in 2023. These findings highlight a grow- ing divergence in wealth distri- bution, with a larger portion of the nation's wealth increasingly concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest citizens. Despite this rise in inequality, Malta's wealth Gini coefficient – a measure of inequality –has on- ly increased slightly, from 0.54 in 2010 to 0.59 in 2023. This figure remains well below the euro area average of 0.72, positioning Malta as the third least unequal econo- my among the countries surveyed by the Central Bank DWA. The report also shows that the assets of the wealthiest 10% are more diversified compared to oth- er groups, with business wealth constituting a substantial portion, 24% of their portfolio. But the richest 10% of Maltese households also possess 89.1% of all business wealth in Malta. In contrast the overall amount of debt and mortgages of households in the bottom half of net wealth distribution, was estimated at €6.7 billion, accounting for 65.6% of total household debt. This was up from 47.5% of total debt held in 2010, reflecting by and large an increase in mortgage debt. Debt for the top 10% richest re- mained relatively stable over the past decade standing at €1.3 bil- lion. The data published in a report written by economists Warren Deguara and Janica Borg under- scores the need for continued monitoring and potential policy interventions to address the wid- ening wealth gap, even as Malta continues to experience overall growth in net wealth. Central Bank data shows the wealthiest 10% own €47 billion, practically half of Malta's total household wealth, but the size of the pie has doubled since 2010