2020-04-07 20:08 update: 2020-04-10, 17:58
Photo PAP/Piotr Nowak
The Polish government on Tuesday presented a bill adding an additional PLN 18.5 bln (EUR 4.08 bln) to its already introduced PLN 212 bln (EUR 46.81 bln) relief package aimed to defend the Polish economy against the economic fallout of the coronavirus epidemic.
Development Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz, who is responsible for drafting the relief laws, said on Tuesday that the new legislation offers a 50-percent discount in social insurance premiums for a period of three months to companies employing between 10 and 49 people. The aid will be provided on the basis of a simple declaration, she added.
Previously, the government exempted companies employing up to nine people from social insurance dues for three months.
The new package will also include "a liquidity component," Emilewicz said, referring to guarantees that Poland's state-owned development bank BGK will provide to small and medium-sized companies. The instrument will make it possible for companies to get loans of up to PLN 250 mln (EUR 55.13 mln) with up to 80 percent of the sum being guaranteed by BGK.
"(Companies) will also be able to finance interest on loans from this fund," Emilewicz said.
Small firms can also get loans from the government-run Industrial Development Agency, Emilewicz added.
According to the rationale to the draft law, liquidity is to be provided first of all to sectors that have suffered most from the current crisis, including road transport hauliers.
The legislation extends support for self-employed people as well as those on temporary, no-benefit job contracts, from one month to three months.
The new laws also offer PLN 87 mln (EUR 19.17 mln) for equipment and services that improve hospitals' broadband connectivity and remote medical services.
Lukasz Schreiber, head of the Council of Ministers Standing Committee, said earlier on Monday that the latest proposals also envisage benefits for farmers under quarantine and job protection for non-governmental organisations. (PAP)
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