Finland Unveils $1.1 Billion Support Package for Businesses

(Bloomberg) --

Finland’s government is rolling out a support package to businesses suffering a significant drop in revenue and reluctant to take out loans during the Covid-19 crisis.

“We want to stop a wave of bankruptcies and job losses,” Economy Minister Mika Lintila told reporters on Thursday.

The total cost of the package is estimated at just under 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), according to the minister. Businesses will be eligible for support for two months, regardless of the industry they operate in. While their size has yet to be decided, payments will be capped somewhere between 100,000 euros and 200,000 euros per company, he said.

The government initially supported businesses through loan-based packages, but decided to come up with this new form of aid after realizing that companies have been reluctant to take out loans in such an uncertain environment, Lintila said. A key criteria for eligibility is that companies have fixed costs they cannot reduce.

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