Wage supplement extended till January

The Government has extended the wage supplement scheme until January 2021.

The extension, designed to help struggling businesses through the pandemic, was announced by Prime Minister Robert Abela during a visit to Brussels.

“On an international level there is uncertainty when it comes to travelling, and we also saw that companies are facing a logistics headache when importing goods,” Abela said, adding that Government did not want the country to lose any of the progress made over the past few months.

The extension was approved by the Cabinet and the situation will remain under review.

Since the start of the pandemic, the wage supplement has been tapered off and applies to businesses worst hit by COVID.

The announcement comes as the Government prepares for a possible outbreak of the Omicron variant, having already reinstated the mandatory wearing of masks outdoors, and reducing the time span between the second and third dose of the COVID vaccines from six months to four.