The government will discuss Monday evening guidelines for a new emergency package to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the population and the economy. The guidelines, which include pay bonuses for workers in critical sectors, will be presented on Tuesday and include aid to the self-employed, PM Janez Janša announced.
Janša said the guidelines, to serve as a basis for legislation the government wants to adopt by this Friday, had been coordinated by the coalition parties last Friday and were now supplemented with proposals by ministries and the advisory task force led by economist Matej Lahovnik.
The pending new measures announced last Saturday include 10-200% pay bonuses to those working in critical sectors such as healthcare, civil protection, security and critical infrastructure, as well as a temporary 30% pay cut for all state officials.
Employers in the private sector will be advised to secure bonuses for hard-working staff, in particular in groceries.
In a tweet published today, Janša added the “guidelines will include solutions for aid to the self-employed”, a measure that many argued was lacking in the first emergency package adopted by parliament last week.
According to Janša, the basic idea of the package will be freezing the state of affairs. Thus the government will secure the funds needed “to preserve jobs, social stability, economic capacity, public service, potential in science, culture…in society in general”.
On Saturday Janša announced a crisis bonus for pensioners and other vulnerable groups and compensation for companies that had to close shop because of the epidemic.
The government plans to define a model for determining the damage suffered by businesses as a result of the epidemic and lay down a reimbursement framework.
In the night to Friday last week, parliament passed the first package of emergency laws. The measures included pay compensation for temporary lay-offs, loan payment and tax duty deferrals for companies, as well as trade restrictions for agriculture and food products. One act gave the government complete discretion over the allocation of budget funds.