PN will honour ċedoli scheme, despite its €32m debt - Grech

The Nationalist Party will honour its commitment to donors who invested in the party’s ċedoli scheme, despite having debts running up to €32 million, party leader Bernard Grech said on Saturday.

He said the scheme will expire in a few years but gave assurance that they will be honoured fully, including the interest payments. He was speaking in an interview on Andrew Azzopardi’s programme on 103 Malta’s Heart.

The party had launched its ċedoli (loans) scheme in 2016, when Simon Busuttil was party leader. Under the scheme, the party entered into a private agreement with individuals who lend it €10,000 for 10 years against an interest payment of four per cent.

Busuttil had said the party had raised almost €3 million through the scheme in just a few months. Since then, the party never said how much money it had raised through the scheme.

The scheme affords anonymity to lenders and has been criticised for going against the spirit of the political party financing law, that makes it incumbent on parties to publish the names of individuals who donate €7,000 or more.

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