Federal Council wants 20 billion more for bail

The demand for Covid-19 transition credits is significant. The Federal Council therefore requests the Parliament to raise the existing commitment appropriation to 40 billion francs in total, ie 20 billion more.

Transition credits meet a considerable need. The first days showed that their rapid and unbureaucratic provision by the banks and PostFinance works well.

As of April 2, 2020, 76,034 credit agreements had been concluded for a total amount estimated at CHF 14.3 billion. The volume of guarantees of 20 billion francs already guaranteed by the Confederation should be exceeded in the coming days.

The Federal Council asks the Finance Delegation, which meets on April 7, to recognize the urgency of a tranche of 10 billion of this credit.

No abuse

In the opinion of the Federal Council, there will be no abuse, even if the non-bureaucratic procedure put in place for the allocation of funds poses a certain risk in this respect. To combat this risk, the competent departments are called upon to rapidly implement a control plan.

The central register of guarantee organizations will check that all Covid-19 credit agreements comply with basic conditions and that the companies concerned have not submitted several credit applications. Credits wrongly or repeatedly requested will be canceled quickly.

COVID-19 credits are systematically checked on the basis of a comparison between VAT data and other data. This comparison will be used in particular to control the data that companies transmit about their turnover and to identify anomalies.

The Federal Department of Finance was instructed to immediately submit solutions to the Federal Council to toughen the criminal and liability provisions of the Covid-19 Bond Guarantee Ordinance. Companies requesting credit and their responsible bodies may be subject to legal action.

Cover losses

The loans granted by the banks are used to cover the fixed costs of the companies despite the loss of turnover linked to the coronavirus. The Confederation fully guarantees loans up to 500,000 francs. It bears 85% of the risk of loss linked to loans, the amount of which varies from 500,000 francs to 20 million francs.

The Federal Council wishes to help SMEs to overcome this difficult period without contributions from the federal government. Businesses that need it can get cash and pay off the loan within five years.

/ ATS

– .