A number of incentives have been offered by the Maltese Government to assist those individuals whose income has been affected due to COVID-19. These incentives include:
- Employees who had their full-time employment terminated as of 9th March 2020, including those who were self-employed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will be eligible for the Contributory Unemployment Benefit and will receive a direct payment of €166.15 if work was in full-time before they became unemployed or €103.85 per week if work was part-time before becoming unemployed.
- Government will increase rent subsidies for individuals who have their job terminated.
- Government vouchers worth €100 have once again been provided to all residents over the age of 16 to encourage spending. This time, €60 is to be spent in hotels or restaurants and the remaining €40 can be spent in retail outlets that were obliged to shut down for some time during the pandemic, such as non-essential shops.
- NGO’s will benefit from an allocation of €3M to ease any burdens that have arisen due to COVID-19.
- Parents employed in the private sector with children under 16 years of age, who are not able to work from home, and due to the closure of schools cannot go to work and are on unpaid leave, may apply for the COVID-19 Parent Benefit Scheme, through their employer. Employers whose employees apply for this scheme may not benefit from the wage supplement for such employees.