The second package of proposals announced by Labour to help businesses is effectively grabbing the proverbial bull by its horns, financial analyst Steve Ellul said on theDailySpot, theJournal.mt’s daily analysis of the 2022 electoral campaign.

On Monday, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced a raft of proposals, described as a game changer to businesses.

Steve Ellul explained that bankability has been a soaring pain point for Maltese businesses for years, as our banks have started a process of derisking some years back.

“I like the approach that is being envisaged here, whereby these proposals would create a legal platform that would allow Maltese banks to expedite the process of issuing loans and opening bank accounts, without diluting the need for proper and effective due diligence. Something which I think is extremely important,” he said.

Ellul added that the proposals announced by Labour, would undeniably improve Malta’s attractiveness as a jurisdiction of choice for international investors. 

The proposals would undeniably improve Malta’s attractiveness as a jurisdiction of choice for international investors.

“These proposals would definitely mitigate the red–tape as they reduce the unnecessary toing and froing between banks and business clients for what is usually duplicate paperwork.”

“What I appreciated the most, is the tangible support that the government is offering to businesses that would want to invest in greener and more sustainable business models. This ties in with the priority, in my view, that is being given to the environment by most of Labour’s proposals. I think this would definitely be critical for the decarbonisation of our economy.”

He added that the fact that a new labour government would be supporting the actual investment in green projects by offloading the entire cost of energy audits on top of providing tax credits and green loans, will definitely support the actual implementation of green corporate projects.

It is very clear, he said, that Labour intends to incentive capital investment.

“The pledge of a 30% tax credit for fixed capital investment, which goes up to 40% for Gozitan businesses ties in clearly with the original proposal of a 10% corporate tax reduction which has been announced some weeks back,” Ellul said.

“From where I stand, it’s very clear that the Labour Party’s message is clear and pretty much directed towards reducing tax burdens and reducing the bureaucratic burden for businesses to be able to create an ecosystem which incentivises those same businesses to invest in modern and greener business models.” 

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