The removal of CVA charges has contributed to a larger turnover of customers this Christmas, according to some business owners on Republic Street who are being greeted by Minister for Small Business Chris Cardona.

Dr Cardona noted that at the beginning of this year the government will issue an expression of interest for parking in Valletta.

He was accompanied by members of the Republic Street Business Community Association, including the treasurer, Andrew Vaswani, and Labour MEP candidate Lino Bianco.

The owners told Dr Cardona that some of the shops have been open since the beginning of the twentieth century, while one of them has been open for more than 150 years.

Sterling Jewellers Director Alfred Fenech told timesofmalta.com that this year could be compared to 2008, which although it was not the best year ever, it was the best one for the past five years.

It was calculated that the company received some 40 per cent of its yearly income around Christmastime, so December made or broke the year, he said.