The Malta Business Weekly carries a story about cryptocurrency-friendly Founders Bank that is expected to open in Malta next year. The project has so far raised $10 million in funding, with Binance and Polychain Capital among its investors.
Business Today leads with the approval of the European Parliament to Malta’s nominee for European Commissioner, Helena Dalli. The paper says that the former Equalities Minister won the approval of five parliamentary groupings.
The Times also follows Helena Dalli’s three-hour grilling by MEPs during which the Panama Papers scandal was raised. Dalli said that she does not agree with Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi’s actions and that she would have done things ‘totally differently’.
The Independent covers Helena Dalli’s questioning at the European Parliament where she described equality as ‘an infinite resource’. Malta’s nominee said that, as Commissioner for Equality, she will make the fight for inclusion a top priority.
In-Nazzjon leads with a visit by PN Leader Adrian Delia to Freshers’ Week at the University of Malta. Delia said that young people build tomorrow’s society while he encouraged students to get involved in the country’s future.
L-Orizzont quotes the Prime Minister’s address at the annual conference for the property industry where he declared the sector ‘sustainable’. Joseph Muscat said that Malta will keep its economic pace even if other countries experience a slowdown.
The Times refers to the annual Property Market Report unveiled on Wednesday which shows demand is not growing at the same rate it has been these past three years. Industry operators noted a return to regular performance after a period of extraordinary demand.
The Independent covers the Property Market Report, too, and says that housing registered a fall in affordability for the second consecutive year. The study was conducted by KPMG for the Developers Association.
Business Today says that the World Trade Organisation will allow the US to impose €7.5 billion in tariffs on EU goods over subsidies given to Airbus. The European Commission warned that the decision would prove ‘short-sighted and counterproductive’.
The Malta Business Weekly quotes official statistics showing fulltime employment increasing by 5.9 percent in April, compared to last year. In another story, the paper says that the European Central Bank flagged risks in the banking sector with Maltese authorities.
L-Orizzont says that the diocese of Gozo will have a new bishop after Mgr. Mario Grech has been appointed by the Pope as Pro-Secretary General of the Bishops’ Synod, succeeding 80-year-old Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri.
In-Nazzjon also follows the story and says that Mgr. Grech was informed of the decision by a phone call from Pope Francis himself while he was on pilgrimage in Lourdes some two weeks ago.
