Latest Update- News Portal Briefing
Times of Malta reports that the move of a tank cleaning facility from Kalkara to Marsa must go ahead as soon as possible to facilitate the rehabilitation of Fort Ricasoli, heritage NGO Assoċjazzjoni Wirt il-Kalkara said on Friday.
MaltaToday reports that Adrian Hillman, the former Allied Newspapers managing director has arrived in Malta as the subject of an extradition request by Maltese authorities.
Newsbook says that workers clocked just 33.8 hours a week on average in 2020, the lowest in recent years mainly because employers tried to cut costs.
TVM reports that a next week Malta is expected to launch a vaccine certificate which has the aim of facilitating travel.
Updated 1230
Covid-19 Update
Six new cases were reported on Friday, one more than recoveries. These were identified through 2,288 swab tests, with active cases remaining stable at 66. 505,100 persons have now been vaccinated, with more than 200,000 being fully vaccinated.
GDP in Q1 registers small drop
NSO provisional estimates indicate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2021 amounted to €3,251.8 million, registering a decrease of €17.8 million, or 0.5 per cent, when compared to the same quarter of 2020. In volume terms, GDP fell by 1.8 per cent. The main drivers of this negative growth rate in volume terms were Service activities and industry, with a contribution of -1.4 percentage points and -0.2
percentage points, respectively. Agriculture and fishing and construction had a neutral impact on GDP growth.
Deficit up to €613m.
By the end of April 2021, the Government reported a deficit of €613.7 million, the NSO said today. This amount, registered over a period of four months is roughly equivalent to half the deficit reported last year. Full story here.
Updated 0844 – Newspaper Review
The Independent leads with a statement by the Council of Europe declaring that Malta no longer has non-compliant ratings and has, thus, passed the MoneyVal assessment. The Council’s report said there are minor ‘deficiencies’ that need implementation.
L-Orizzont quotes Finance Minister Clyde Caruana who welcomed the announcement that Malta has passed the MoneyVal test. He said the government will work to keep strengthening the country’s position.
The Times says that Malta remains in the MoneyVal enhanced follow-up procedure for now and authorities will be requested to report to the panel on improvements to the anti-money laundering framework.
In-Nazzjon quotes PN Leader Bernard Grech who pledged to refund families for any extra charges in their utility bills. He said that the party wants to incentivise people to invest in alternative energy sources.
The Times reports that restaurants are facing a challenge in finding staff after many workers either left the industry or the country altogether. At least twelve restaurant owners have raised the concern with the Chamber of SMEs.
L-Orizzont says that new cars decreased by 27 per cent in 2020 from the year before, reaching a total of 19,480. Accidents also dropped to a total of under 12,000, 25 per cent less than in 2019.
The Independent reports that a sealed Punic tomb was discovered in Żabbar during works carried out by the Water Services Corporation. Inspections found urns with cremated remains of human bones and well as other vessels used in the burial.
In-Nazzjon questions parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes on a report by the Auditor General flagging overcharging by billing company ARMS for years. The junior minister said that the government has lowered electricity prices.
Morning Briefing
Four magistrates appointed through new procedures
The President of Malta has appointed the first four Magistrates following an expression of interest issued in April to appoint members of the judiciary to the Lower Courts of Malta. The new Magistrates are Dr Noel Bartolo, Dr Leonard Caruana, Dr Lara Lanfranco and Dr Elaine Mercieca.
The Office of the President said that the Committee for the Appointment of the Judiciary received applications and scrutinised 28 people who expressed an interest in the appointment.
The candidates were then vetted by the Committee on 26 May which then presented a detailed report with its recommendations to the President.
PN welcomes Moneyval report
The Nationalist Party welcomed the Moneyval result describing it as a positive result for Malta.
“This comes as a relief for Malta, for businesses and for workers, particularly in the financial services sector, who had seen years of work and investment put at risk because of the way the government in the past seven years undermined the institutions and closed an eye to financial crime,” the party said.
The report said that Malta has achieved “significant progress” in fighting money-laundering and terrorism financing, a report by Moneyval found. The Council of Europe anti-money laundering body acknowledged that Malta has succeeded to meet general expectations after a raft of deficiencies were first identified by Moneyval in 2019, in a test which Malta had failed.
This time round, Malta was classified as compliant or largely compliant in areas such as the application of some of the preventative measures, transparency of legal entities, supervision and international co-operation. MONEYVAL has examined a range of legislative, regulatory and institutional measures implemented by Malta to address these deficiencies. It noted a number of legislative and regulatory reforms intended to strengthen the technical compliance framework and support the fight against money laundering, together with a strengthening of the responsible institutions, particularly the FIAU
Covid-19 Update
Malta recorded 4 Covid-19 cases and 8 recoveries on Thursday. 2,316 swab tests were carried out as Malta reached 65 active cases. No new deaths were recorded. The number of vaccination jabs is likely to have reached 500,000 by yesterday evening.
CDE News
