Just over €63 million in loans that had payment plans paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic remain outstanding, with that figure down almost 20 per cent in just one month. 

Data issued by the Central Bank as part of its October economic update showed that the total outstanding balance on loans that applied to defer their repayments due to the pandemic stood at €63.3 million as of August. Just 79 loans were subject to a repayment moratorium as of the end of that month.

One month earlier, 135 loans with a total value of €78.9 million were subject to a moratorium. 

The figures mean the total amount outstanding for such loans fell by €15.6 million throughout August.

Individuals and businesses started being offered moratoria on loans in the spring of 2020, after the pandemic forced many businesses to shut down and workers to stay home.

The moratorium offer was then extended into 2021. 

Who has outstanding loans subject to moratorium? 

The largest amount of deferred loans is being repaid from households, with 31 loans leaving an outstanding amount of €3.6 million.

The accommodation and food services industry is the business sector with the largest number of loans currently on moratorium, with a value of €15.9 million in outstanding payments on 31 loans, followed by the real estate industry, which held 11 loans with an outstanding value of €6.6 million.

The Central Bank said that Malta’s macroeconomic variables have continued to recover from the low levels observed in 2020.

“Nevertheless, the level of aggregate economic activity remained below pre-pandemic levels,” the CBM noted.

It said that its estimate of the COVID-19 Government Response Index remained unchanged from last month’s level. While confidence in industry fell in September when compared to August, sentiment remained positive in all sectors.

Commercial and residential permits in August, rose when compared to their levels a year previous, as did the number of final deeds for sale on residential property, while comparing figures from the same period shows that promise of sales agreements decreased during this time.

The current unemployment rate remained unchanged in August at 3.2 per cent, just below pre-pandemic levels. Unemployment also decreased when compared to July as well as August of last year.

The annual inflation rate based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) stood at 0.7% in September, up from 0.4% in August, while that based on the Retail Price Index rose to 2.2% from 2.1% a month earlier.