On Wednesday 24 August, the European Commission authorised Malta's plans to support the creation of a development bank ('Malta Development Bank' or 'MDB') by means of a capital injection of €200 million, as well as through guarantees and tax exemptions up to the amount of approximately €55 million.
The MDB will offer financing to SMEs which are struggling to finance themselves on the market. It may also support infrastructure projects in the event of insufficient or non-existent financing on the market, and participate in the financial instruments of the EU (COSME, the programme for SMEs, Horizon 2020 or the European Fund for Strategic Investments).
The Commission takes the view that as presented, the project makes it possible to prevent a situation in which private investments are driven out by the development bank. The Commission will carry out a reassessment in 2019, as the financing market and infrastructure projects are likely to change (particularly in the scale and nature of the market deficiencies). (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)