Martin Bidegaray
08/11/2020 - 21:09
- Clarín.com
- Economy
- Economy
The Government rehearses a twist in the next round of assistance in the payment of salaries. Until now, the Executive Power has assisted the companies by directly paying a part of the workers' wages or with credits at a subsidized rate so that they can meet this obligation. However, from September there could be a modification, tending to stimulate job creation.
Subsidized rate loans will continue, but with an extra hook. If the company being assisted shows that it is taking on new employees, the credit will be converted to a subsidy . In other words, instead of having to repay the borrowed money, you will receive it without obligation to return it. Of course, you must demonstrate that your payroll is higher than it had before.
This innovation has already been approved by the committee that sets the course of the ATP and will be implemented in the next round, in September. Still, officials expect some improvement in economic activity to continue and the need for assistance from the private sector to diminish.
This new edge has some echoes of the “Paycheck Protection Program” (PPP), the initiative of the United States Government that combines loans with subsidies so that companies maintain their payroll.
In addition, this assistance can also be received by companies that have increased their income. If they register between 0% to 30% of annual nominal turnover to that of 2019 , they are in a position to register, since they are below in real income, discounting inflation.
In the fourth round of the ATP program, in August, more than 230,000 signatures were registered, but assistance in the payment of salaries will reach 135,000 companies, according to official data. There are another 65,000 companies that will receive loans at a subsidized rate, also to cover personnel costs.
This means that there is money from the State in the salaries of 1.4 million workers in August and credits to collaborate in the payment of another 400,000 employees. In the first case, it is $ 27,000 million. The credits were for $ 7,000 million.
In the Government they observe a certain reactivation and believe that there are improvements in the economic situation. They understand that the health situation is complicated in Buenos Aires and the suburbs, but that the interior recovers a certain pre-pandemic normality.
Each round of ATP assistance is reaching fewer companies, because the number of companies requesting this assistance is falling. In the first, there were 255,000 signatures and in the second it reached 253,000. The third was at 220,000. The current drop, to 135,000 signatures, shows that there is a recovery, which is noticeable in the interior more than in Buenos Aires.
The number of workers reached by this assistance was 2.3 million in round 1; it went to 1.9 million in round 2 and dropped to 1.63 million in round 3.
According to official estimates, slightly more than half of the companies that apply for ATP are usually eligible to qualify and provide assistance.
The first assistances were for companies that showed drops in their turnover. Now the variant of higher sales is being incorporated, but below annual inflation, that is to say, real fall.
70% of the workers who received ATP belong to SMEs, according to the Productive Panorama report. This work is prepared by the Center for Studies for Production (which depends on the Ministry of Productive Development) and indicates that "more large companies were leaving the program more quickly in part due to the recovery of the industry."