UPDATED 1745 – News Portal Review
TVM says in over six months since Covid-19 has surfaced in Malta, the past 24 hours have witnessed a record 78 new cases of the coronavirus in Malta from a total of 2,407 swab test. 465 cases are still active.
MaltaToday reports that the Nationalist Party leadership election will be held on 3 October with early voting being spread out over the preceding week, the party’s Electoral Commission said. Delia and Grech, have promised to publish the results of the financial due diligence test.
Times of Malta says Electrogas was secretly given an 18-year breather before having to pay €18 million in damages due to Enemalta as compensation for delays in delivering the power station project, e-mails reviewed by Times of Malta show.
The Malta Independent reports that as of today, 1,779 parents have received the €300 in child bonus as announced in Budget 2020. The grant was announced back in October 2019 as one of the social measures announced during the Budget 2020.
Newsbook says that several schools are currently very busy making decisions and arrangements on how to handle the upcoming scholastic year. With the precautions required because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the main concerns for schools revolve around space for distancing between students, online tuition and protective clothing.
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Malta has registered a record of 78 new cases, with the bulk being registered in a Fgura residence for the elderly.
Morning Briefing
PN Election to go ahead on 3rd October
The Nationalist Party’s electoral commission confirmed the eligibility of both incumbent Adrian Delia and contender Bernard Grech for the PN leadership contest following an extensive due diligence test carried out in the past weeks.
The election will be take place on the 3rd October.
Formal nominations will be accepted this weeks.
S&P confirms Malta rating, forecasts sharp contraction
The Maltese economy is expected to shrink by 8% this year, according to forecasts by credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s. The country’s credit rating was confirmed at A-, with its outlook determined as stable.
S&P expressed confidence in a strong recovery by 2021-2022, as a result of lower debt levels.
High income levels, recurrent current account surpluses, and reduced fiscal imbalances will aid Malta’s recovery, but S&P has highlighted regulatory oversight of the financial sector and its anti-money-laundering framework.
S&P highlighted the support measures provided by the authorities during the peak of the crisis: Without this comprehensive fiscal response, we think the Maltese GDP would have fallen considerably lower, unemployment would have surged faster, and solvent businesses would be forced to liquidate, eroding the economy’s productive base, perhaps permanently. We believe that minimizing the economic disruption now could accelerate a rebound.”
Shady compensation agreement with Electrogas revealed
Electrogas was secretly given a lengthy 18-year period to pay compensation to Enemalta for delays in completing the powerstation project. This was revealed by the Times of Malta today.
This deal was never announced publicly and there was no reference to it in the probe carried into the power station contracts by the National Audit Office. Former Minister Konrad had insisted that Government was getting tough with the company for the failures in respected the negotiated deadlines.
Covid-19 in Malta
27 coronavirus cases were reported in the previous 24 hours, the Health Department said, while 17 patients recovered.
The new cases were identified from a total of 1,647 swab tests. This takes up the number of active cases to 409.
CDE News
