Every Maltese resident will be receiving another €100 worth of vouchers to spend locally while businesses affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic will continue to receive a wage supplement at least until March 2021, the government announced on Monday. 

The wage supplement, first introduced in March and which provides eligible businesses with up to €800 a month for every full-time worker, will continue in its current form until the end of the year. It will then be revised based on government income receipts, which flow in at the end of the year.

Policymakers will be looking at tax returns to better understand which sectors require more aid, which may need less and which excluded sectors should form part of the wage supplement scheme.  

The scheme is meant to encourage businesses impacted by COVID-19 to retain their workforce and maintain their productive capacity throughout the pandemic. As of August, unemployment in Malta stood at 4.1 per cent, versus an average rate of 8.1 per cent across the eurozone. 

New round of vouchers

Local residents will also be receiving a second set of consumption vouchers, to be used in local hotels, restaurants, retail and service outlets. 

The vouchers were first introduced in mid-summer and proved to be a success at stimulating demand, with the government estimating they kickstarted €52.6m in spending. 

A second round of vouchers, announced by Finance Minister Edward Scicluna in his Budget 2021 speech on Monday, will be slightly different to the first batch. 

The new vouchers will be introduced in January. They will come in denominations of €10 and €15 each (previously, residents received five vouchers worth €20 each) and the share of vouchers which can be used in retail or service outlets will double, to €40 out of the €100 in total.  

The vouchers scheme will cost the government €50 million.