VALLETTA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Wednesday transferred 52 million euros (55 million U.S. dollars) to Malta under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), it said in a statement.

The payment is the first instalment in a grant package worth 258 million euros that was released after the country fulfilled key targets in the European Union (EU) funding program.

The RRF was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to help EU member states kickstart their economies following the lockdowns.

The Commission said the payments are performance-based and depend on governments implementing the investments and reforms outlined in their RRF plans.

The release of Malta's first instalment was dependent on the fulfilment of projects such as the introduction of a recycling strategy for construction waste, taking measures to allow civil servants to work remotely, implementing reforms to boost industrial research, setting up a national anti-fraud and corruption strategy and starting reforms to digitize the justice system.

In its statement, the Commission said Malta had fulfilled 16 milestones and three targets it had set for the first instalment. That favorable opinion was given by the EU Council's Economic and Financial Committee, paving the way for the Commission to greenlight the payment. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollar) Enditem

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