The Malta Chamber of SMEs (formerly known as the GRTU) has welcomed further business-aid measures “confirmed” during a meeting this morning with the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development (MCESD), Economy Minister Silvio Schembri, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna and Minister Carmelo Abela.

"In particular we welcome what has been confirmed in this morning’s MCESD meeting with the participation of Ministers" Schembri, Scicluna and Abela. The Chamber of SMEs went on to list the updated measures, most notable of which is that the tax deferral scheme announced last month for payments due in March and April will be extended to also cover May and June.

The scheme provides for the deferral of provisional tax, employee taxes, maternity fund payments and social security contributions, social security contributions of self-employed persons and VAT.

Details for the settlement period under this extension remain unclear while the Government has yet to confirm this extension itself. 

A number of members from the business community, such as tax specialist Nicky Gouder and local restaurateur Julian Sammut, have previously called for extensions of the tax deferral scheme, saying it is crucial to help with issues of liquidity and certainty.

The Chamber of SMEs also revealed that the Government is “working on a nine-month plan during which it will continue to support enterprises who require assistance in order to recover”.

Lastly, it said “sectors that will be given the green light to open up in accordance with the ‘exit plan’ to be announced periodically by the Government, will continue to receive support from the Government until their business picks up”.

Economy Minister Silvio Schembri had last week confirmed that the state did not intend to halt assistance as soon as relevant businesses are allowed to start operating again. He had also said the Ministry submitted plans for an “exit strategy” to the health authorities but provided no further details.

“These are very important support measures and we appreciate the hard work from all those involved in order to respond to the needs of businesses as fast as possible,” the Chamber of SMEs said.

It also welcomed and endorsed an initiative announced by the Hon Clayton Bartolo to once again launch the eBiznify scheme (www.ebiznify.com) offering e-commerce and digital skills training for SMEs.

“This scheme may be very instrumental in the current COVID-19 situation to help SMEs that are still not operating online to gain the necessary knowledge to successfully move their business online,” the Chamber of SMEs remarked.

“There are many schemes that the government has made available to help businesses survive COVID-19 and businesses are encouraged to get in touch with the Malta Chamber of SMEs for any assistance they require in order to understand how they can benefit.”

Read the full statement here.