Al-Wazir sees Hessen "on the right path" out of the crisis

The "Hessenplan" is intended to support the economy in the corona pandemic.

It is now about aid of over 770 million euros - although some offers are surprisingly little in demand.

Wiesbaden - The state's bundle of measures launched a year ago to support companies and the economy in the Corona crisis has proven itself from the point of view of Hesse's Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens). "We have not yet reached the stand from before Corona, but we are on the right track," he told the German press agency. The fact that there was no wave of bankruptcies shows that such aid programs are working and are doing their part in overcoming the consequences of the pandemic.

According to the ministry, more than 772 million euros in aid and grants have so far flowed or approved from the package of measures - called the "New Hessen Plan for Hesse's Economy".

A large part - 261 million euros - was used to stabilize local public transport.

In addition, small and medium-sized businesses in particular have been supported with a total of almost 250 million euros via the “Hessen Mikroliquidität” loan program.

The "New Hessen Plan" is not only intended to deal with the crisis, but should also make Hessen more future-proof, said Al-Wazir.

"If you have to take so much money into your hands, then also in such a way that we can get out of such a crisis stronger than we went into it."

The "Hessenplan" summarizes existing measures as well as increased or new aid programs.

It is intended to help the economy in the pandemic and at the same time ensure investments in the areas of sustainability and digitization.

A large part of the funds come from the debt-financed Corona special fund.

The opposition in the state parliament had criticized the program as a PR project.

Some offers in the package of measures, originally estimated at more than one billion euros, have so far hardly been accessed - because contrary to expectations, there was almost no need for them.

This concerned the Hessen Fund, for example.

The country had launched this in order to be able to participate in companies that were in dire straits.

For Al-Wazir, the low demand is not a damper, but a good sign: “There were no companies in question that got into such existential difficulties that they needed such a stake.

They somehow got by with short-time work benefits or KfW guarantees. ”However, some larger companies had called on the federal government's economic stabilization fund.

On the other hand, according to the ministry, there was strong demand from the municipalities for an inner city funding program.

The funds have therefore been increased from 12 to 27 million euros.

6.2 million euros are earmarked for the expansion of the e-charging station infrastructure, and 4.8 million euros have been approved.

Other funding programs relate to cycling, the energy-efficient modernization of buildings, digitization and vocational training.

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Al-Wazir expects that Hesse's economy will overcome the crisis in the course of the coming year.

There are already positive signals: The unemployment figures are higher than before the pandemic, but lower than in 2020. And there are even more jobs requiring social security compared to the pre-Corona period.

The training area remains a problem child: "Despite all the measures that we have started together with the chambers or Dehoga, for example, there are now two cohorts with significantly fewer training contracts than before."

dpa