Maltese businesses and companies will not need to give back any of the money given by the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Robert Abela said today during a Q&A session in Msida.

Saying the wage supplement – which is a grant given to businesses affected by the pandemic to ensure they can make payroll and won’t need to fire staff – would be extended to April, Abela said that his administration “has been, is and will continue” to support Maltese businesses during the pandemic.

His words come after a public debate organised by the Chamber of Commerce where Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech faced off in the second debate of the election season, and the PL’s manifesto was released last week.

Abela’s statement was meant as a rebuttal to questions concerning certain ideas in the manifesto, including Proposal 174.

The proposal states that if circumstances like the pandemic were to raise their heads once more, a “scheme similar to the wage supplement scheme” where €800 would be given each month for six months for each worker would be implemented. Businesses would then need to pay back the support over five years once the company returns to profitability.

However, Abela said the wage supplement scheme had nothing to do with this plan and the state was not expecting Maltese businesses to pay back the supplement. He hit back at the Opposition leader for “irresponsibly” telling businesses that they may need to pay back this supplement, saying it placed businesses under “undue pressure”.

“Read the words – it’s a grant. And what we give the people and businesses, remains theirs,” he said. “And if we hadn’t brought in the wage supplement, we would have faced 50,000 unemployed people across the island.”

You can watch the full address by Abela below: