Government entities have loans of Lm301.9m

Government entities had total outstanding loans of Lm301.9 million at the end of June, according to information given in parliament yesterday.

The information was given by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in reply to a question by Labour MP Charles Mangion, who asked for a list of borrowing by entities made with the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

The Prime Minister gave the following list of loans - Enemalta, Lm77.6 million; Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools, Lm2.8 million; Gozo Channel Ltd, Lm500,000; Gozo Ferries Ltd, Lm11 million;

The Housing Authority, Lm3.2 million; Malpro Ltd, Lm700,000; Malta Desalination Services, Lm945,417;

Ex Malta Drydocks Corporation, Lm40.5 million; Malta Enterprise, Lm3.7 million; Malta Export House Ltd, Lm5.7 million; Malta Freeport Corporation, Lm105.9 million;

Malta Government Investments Ltd, Lm15.1 million; Malta Maritime Authority, Lm2.7 million, ex-Malta Shipbuilding, Lm790,681; Malta Tourism Authority, Lm2.9 million; PBS, Lm10,925 and the Water Services Corporation, Lm27.3 million.

All the facilities are local except in the case of Enemalta, which has foreign facilities of Lm44.8 million, Gozo Ferries Ltd, Lm11 million and Malta Freeport, Lm89.7 million.

The highest interest rate charged is 6.5 per cent for the Freeport's overseas borrowing, followed by 6.25 per cent for the amounts borrowed by PBS and Malpro Ltd. The lowest is four per cent, the rate for borrowing by the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools and the Malta Tourism Authority.