Financial help for badly affected businesses extended
Blümel: We continue to help those that still need help
15 June 2021
The ongoing steps to open up society and business are bringing the hoped-for stimulus to Austria's economy, which is currently only 0.4% under the 2019 pre-crisis level. The figures are the best since the global corona crisis began.
“We have been seeing a strong recovery in broad sections of the economy for some weeks now. At the same time it is clear that not all sectors will feel the upturn immediately. We will therefore continue to unerringly support those businesses whose business model worked well before the crisis, but which are currently still some way off normality, financially speaking. For it's precisely during the comeback phase that our help is important, in order to safeguard jobs and give the best possible support to businesses to get them across the finishing line of this marathon,” declared Finance Minister Gernot Blümel at a press conference.
The aim is to wind down state aid optimally to aid the economy. “Aid must be targeted and should not offer inappropriate incentives that could slow down growth. For this reason we have modified the support offered to reflect developments in the economy and will continue to help those that still need help,” stated Blümel.
The key elements will be: the turnover loss bonus and the hardship fund will continue to be paid for 3 months until September; loss compensation will be extended for 6 months until December; and guarantees and tax support measures will be extended until the end of the year. As a consequence of the ongoing improvement in the overall economic situation and the steady return to normality, the entitlement criteria and compensation rates in particular, along with other criteria, will be modified to reflect the circumstances as they stand. Thus, for example, the criterion for being able to claim loss compensation will in future be a 50% drop in revenue — previously this was 30%. A 50% drop in revenue is also the prerequisite for entitlement to the turnover loss bonus and hardship fund.
Full details of the modified forms of aid available will shortly be published on bmf.gv.at/corona (in German)