Bulgarian PM: ’60:40′ business aid to be extended to end of September
The Bulgarian government’s “60:40” business assistance measure will be extended to the end of September and possibly to the end of the year, Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said at a Cabinet meeting on June 8.
Introduced in response to the business crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the 60:40 measure provides for the Bulgarian state to pick up 60 per cent of an employer’s payroll costs, with the employer obliged to pay the remaining 40 per cent.
Labour and Social Policy Minister Denitsa Sacheva said that as of June 5, there had been 15 371 applications submitted for 60:40 aid.
So far, 73 million leva had been paid out, covering 170 000 people, she said.
Sacheva has said repeatedly in interviews in recent days that the measure will be amended with effect from July 1 to enable more sectors to be eligible for the financial assistance, but no details have been made clear.
There will be a new measure to tackle unemployment, involving spending 160 million leva from the EU Human Resources Development operational programme, to employ people who will be paid the minimum wage plus social insurance, she said.
Before the State of Emergency was declared in Bulgaria on March 13, there were about 200 000 unemployed people in the country. That number has increased by a further 90 000.
(Photo of Borissov: government.bg)
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