Fancy getting an extra €50 to spend on restaurants and bars once they reopen post-Covid? The Nationalist Party has proposed just that.

The proposal, made by Opposition MP Hermann Schiavone, would see every citizen over the age of 16 receive the voucher, and would have a short expiry date of two months, to encourage immediate spending to protect the industry.

The catering industry is one of the worst affected by COVID-19, with most establishments forced to close their doors, save for those that offer takeaway services.

This initiative would cost the state €17 million, of which €3 million would be made in VAT.

“Although it is evident that the industry will not recover by this summer, the Nationalist Party urges the government to ensure that the sector doesn’t fall back to the point that it cannot recover in the coming years,” they said in a statement.

A similar proposal was recently floated in Italy by Alessandra Todde, the undersecretary for the Ministry of Economic Development, as a way to boost internal tourism in the wake of the pandemic.  

What do you think of their proposal?