Industry given €157 million since 2005

Malta Enterprise has given €157,353,633 in financial aid to companies between 2005 and July 2009, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry in reply to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Alfred Sant.

The bulk of the aid, €124,124,595, was provided in the form of fiscal schemes such as tax credits for investment, investment allowances, tax holidays, loan guarantees, loan interest subsidies and soft loans.

The remainder of the aid was given in direct grants: €22,431,277 from local funds and €10,862,345 from European Union funds. In all there were 2,837 companies that benefited from these funds and schemes since 2005, 126 of them based in Gozo. Companies in Malta's sister island received €4,762,113 in aid throughout this period.

The number of companies receiving aid has progressively declined over the years from 798 in 2005 to 384 in 2008. In the first seven months of this year, however, 414 companies have already been helped through the various grants and schemes available.

The aid given to companies in the years 2005-2007 was more or less the same each year: €42,021,895, €41,911,525 and €48,254,013 respectively. However, the aid given in 2008 dropped to €7,021,972 while the grants and fiscal incentives given in the first seven months of this year amounted to €18,144,228.

This year saw the largest amount of aid given to industry from EU funds: industry received €9,456,952 in EU grants in the first seven months of 2009. In 2005 the figure was €895,015 compared to €263,732 in 2006 and €246,646 in 2008. In 2007 no EU funds were given to industry.

From 2005 to July 2009, 304 companies received EU grants in nine different European Regional Development Fund schemes.

There were six fiscal assistance schemes and 21 grant schemes financed by Malta Enterprise throughout this period.