Wednesday, June 9, 2021 - 11:05

The Chamber says it is disappointed that the Government has not responded to its request to extend the discount scheme on commercial rents or the import duty waiver until the end of June.

In mid March the Chamber raised the issue of extending the BEAT measures for the whole of the second quarter with the Government. This was because it was clear that many local businesses were suffering from a lack of customers and particularly tourists. With few flights and empty hotels, local businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors had very thin trading levels during the first quarter compared to the same period of 2019. This was not expected to change much over the second quarter. For this reason the Chamber wrote and subsequently met with the Government to ask for an extension of support until trading conditions improved which is expected in the summer.