The government should help all businesses affected by the economic consequences of COVID-19, irrespective of the economic sector they operate in, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Tuesday.

Assistance, it said, should be based on the loss of turnover the businesses are currently experiencing when compared to the corresponding period last year, rather than NACE (the classification of economic activities).

Companies that lose more than half of their turnover should be supported by wage subsidies equivalent to €800 per month per employee and companies that see a turnover loss of over a quarter should be handed €400 benefit per month per employee it said.

The chamber's proposal follows up a package of assistance unveiled by the government after agreement with the social partners last month. That package was criticised because it did not cover all businesses affected by the current slow-down.

The Chamber said it estimated that its new proposal would cost the government an additional €48.3million per month on top of the measures which are already  in place.

“The assistance provided so far has helped to heal the gushing wounds of the economy, and has already gone a long way, however the country’s economic prospects are far from healthy," chamber president David Xuereb said in a statement.

"Companies and households alike cannot be allowed to run out of money, so it is deemed absolutely essential for the government to ensure that workers’ incomes are sustained and aggregate demand maintained while minimising costs for collapsing businesses. In order to do so, the government must not be averse to increasing its debt and disregard any previous commendable targets for debt/GDP ratios.

"The urgent priority at this point of utter emergency is to ensure that the economy survives to see the future. The future will then deal with the debt incurred today for the purposes of ensuring a tomorrow.”

The chamber said that in order to ensure a judicious distribution of public funds, there could be eventual verifications by the government through the VAT returns of beneficiary companies with the possibility of reclaiming funds from ineligible businesses.