Hardship funds boosted for struggling Swiss companies
The Swiss government is adding an additional CHF300 million ($330 million) in hardship payments to help small companies cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The hardship allocation is two-thirds funded by the government and one-third by cantons. On Friday, the government added an extra CHF300 million from its CHF1 billion reserve fund to be distributed to various cantons.
Lost sales
In addition to releasing funds, the government says the payments of up to CHF1.5 million per company will now cover up to 30% of lost sales, as opposed to the previous benchmark of 20%.
A special hardship rule has also been created for the smallest companies, which the government says should cost no more than CHF500 million.
Parliament has made tens of billions of francs available to cushion the effects of the pandemic in various ways. Some of this money will be issued in loans and is expected to be paid back.
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