Status: 22.12.2021 5:39 p.m.
Companies and the self-employed have to repay around 290 million euros in immediate corona aid. According to Economics Minister Habeck, they should be given more time for this. In a letter to his country colleagues, he mentioned October 2022.
In spring 2020, the Corona emergency aid was important for many companies to prevent bankruptcy. Some recipients did not realize that the money had to be paid back. Now the repayment creates new economic worries.
Habeck wants reasonable deadlines
Economics minister Robert Habeck wants to help affected companies. In a letter to the ARD capital studio is available, he asks the federal states to grant appropriate deadlines for repayment. As an example, he refers to the repayment date granted by North Rhine-Westphalia on October 31, 2022, which offers companies sufficient planning security. The final reports of the federal states, which have to submit them to the federal government, should therefore not be due until the end of 2022, six months later than originally planned.
The economics ministers of the federal states are likely to agree: In their letter to Habeck, the chairman of the conference of economics ministers, Andreas Pinkwart (FDP) from North Rhine-Westphalia, said the current claims for repayment appeared “inappropriate” given the current situation. An extension of the accounts of the economic aid, for the emergency aid until June 2023, is absolutely necessary.
Habeck: There are worries and fears
A total of 287.8 million euros in federal funds should be reimbursed to small businesses and the self-employed. Habeck writes in the letter that the current corona situation continues to pose major challenges, especially for the many small companies and self-employed. In some cases, there are worries and fears, which ultimately also resulted from uncertainties about possible reimbursements of emergency aid that could also come their way.
Shortly after the outbreak of the pandemic, the federal government launched emergency aid in March 2020 to secure the economic existence of companies and to bridge acute liquidity bottlenecks. It was a one-time grant. According to Habeck, 1.8 million companies and self-employed benefited from support amounting to around 13.6 billion euros. The federal states implemented the emergency aid.