The government has started discussing amendments to first corona mega act and the second corona bill. The first package entailed a EUR 3 billion stimulus to help the economy overcome the crisis, while the second aims to relaunch the economy, Economic Development and Technology Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said in the morning.
The changes as well as the bill will be fast-tracked through parliament, the Government Communication Office said in a press release on Friday after the government convened a session at the Brdo pri Kranju conference centre.
While the changes aim to improve the first corona act, the second corona bill establishes strategic measures to aid the people and the economy. “Measures allowing companies to boost investments and preserve jobs will be key,” the office said.
It also confirmed for the STA that the government will continue discussing the bills on Monday. This morning, Počivalšek took part in the televised daily government statement, but could not yet comment concretely on the bills.
He believes the relaunching of businesses will be hardest in the tourism sector, which relies heavily strongly on guests from abroad.
Meanwhile, several business chambers have expressed belief that the second corona bill, meant to boost companies’ liquidity, has a number of shortcomings which will make it harder for companies to apply the measures.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), the Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS), AmCham Slovenija and the British-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce believe that the planned guarantee scheme is small and the share of state guarantees is very low.
The GZS said in a statement that the scheme in Slovenia is three times lower than in three other similar countries and that planned EUR 2 billion are the equivalent of only 4% of the country’s GDP.
Moreover, because the share of state guarantees is very low, banks will not be giving loans to companies that need them most but to companies that do not have a problem getting a loan as it is.
The GZS believes that the state guarantee mechanism is overly complicated and would only be an additional obstacle for companies trying to obtain loans.
Trade unions also expect the changes to address some of the shortcomings in the first package, after Labour Minister Janez Cigler Kralj said last week that a number of their proposals would be included in the changes.