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Austria Readies $4.4 Billion Coronavirus Crisis Fund for Economy

Austria Readies $4.4 Billion Coronavirus Crisis Fund for Economy

(Bloomberg) -- Austria is setting aside 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in liquidity and subsidies to support the economy against the impact of the coronavirus, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told journalists on Saturday.

The measures will offer liquidity by way of loans and loan guarantees as well as tax deferrals, a new model for labor subsidies for companies that have to reduce working hours, and aid for one-person and family-owned enterprises, and the tourism and cultural sectors, Kurz said.

The extra funding means the national budget will swing back into a deficit again this year, Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel said.

Austria has also imposed a quarantine over Heiligenblut, another village in the Carinthian Alps, following Ischgl and St. Anton in Tyrol.

Austria Readies $4.4 Billion Coronavirus Crisis Fund for Economy

To contact the reporter on this story: Boris Groendahl in Vienna at bgroendahl@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Davis, Hilton Shone

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