Maltese banks have not been provided details of how a government scheme to subsidise interest rates for businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic will function, their association said on Saturday. 

The scheme announced by finance minister Edward Scicluna on Thursday is intended to offer businesses and self-employed workers a subsidy on the 2.5 per cent interest rate charged by banks for the first two-years of the loan, to ease the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. 

But, in a statement, the Malta Bankers' Association said the "specific details, terms and modality of the announced scheme" had not been communicated to its members. 

"In the meantime banks are receiving numerous queries about how the scheme will operate. Once such information is communicated in due course, the MBA and its members will provide further updates as necessary," the association said. 

Nevertheless, the association welcomed the announcement and reiterated its readiness to collaborate with the authorities in implementing the measures. 

The government has said the programme,  estimated to cost €20 million per year, is a collaboration with the Malta Development Bank and is being offered by Bank of Valletta, HSBC, APS, BNF Bank, MeDirect, Lombard Bank, Izola Bank and FCM Bank.

It follows other measures announced recently, including a six-month moratorium issued by the Central Bank of Malta on all loans, the ministers said.