Enlarge image
Robert Habeck (Greens):
Photo: Clemens Bilan / EPA
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) has called on the states to introduce a moratorium on the possible repayment of Corona emergency aid by companies.
This emerges from a letter from Habeck to the economics ministers of the federal states.
Several federal states are currently demanding back the Corona emergency aid paid out in spring 2020, according to the »Handelsblatt«, small businesses and the self-employed are to reimburse a total of 287.8 million euros in federal funds.
"Worries and fears" in small companies
The current corona-related situation, writes Habeck in the letter, is particularly "the many small companies and self-employed continue to face major challenges."
In some cases, there are "worries and fears" that ultimately also resulted from uncertainties about possible reimbursements of emergency aid that could also come their way.
Habeck is therefore in favor of a time delay in order to ensure the continuation of operations.
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.
The bridging aid is now the most important crisis instrument.
Random checks
In his letter, Habeck points out that the federal and state governments agreed to carry out random checks to determine whether the federal funds had been used as intended.
These tests were only started a few months ago in several countries.
Habeck is now in favor of "reasonable deadlines" for possible reclaims.
As an example, he refers to the repayment date granted by North Rhine-Westphalia on October 31, 2022, which offers companies sufficient planning security.
rai / dpa