The European Commission has approved the Maltese
Government's proposals to support the local economy in the
context of the coronavirus outbreak. The initiative, which has an
estimated budget of €350 million, was approved by the
Commission under the State Aid Temporary Framework, thus allowing
the Maltese Government to support the economy in the context of the
COVID-19 outbreak; this consists of a guarantee scheme for working
capital loans granted by commercial banks to support companies
affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The Commission approved same on the grounds that it found that
the Maltese measure is in line with the conditions set out in the
Temporary Framework, specifically: (i) the underlying loan amount
per company is linked to cover its liquidity needs for the
foreseeable future, (ii) the guarantees will only be provided until
the end of this year, (iii) the guarantees are limited to a maximum
of six years, and (iv) guarantee fee premiums do not exceed
