The Finnish Government announced today substantial additional measures aimed to address the negative economic consequences of the coronavirus epidemic. These new measures include the following:
1. The supplementary budget to be issued to the Parliament today, amounting to approximately 400 million euros in the aggregate, will provide additional funding for the social and health care services as well as direct subsidies to businesses granted through Business Finland and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
2. The financing mandate of Finnvera will be increased to 12 billion euros from the current 4.2 billion euros. The financial support provided to businesses by Finnvera consists primarily of guaranteeing loans issued by private banks as well as direct loans to companies.
3. The Government shall implement most of the temporary measures proposed by the labor market federations on 18 March 2020 (see our earlier update here). These measures include, inter alia, the following:
- The employment pension contribution of private sector employers is temporarily decreased by 2.6 percentage points. The decrease will be put into effect as soon as possible, by 1 June 2020 at the latest, and will be in force until 31 December 2020.
- The payment of employment pension contributions shall be postponed for a period of 3 months.
- Pension insurance companies shall temporarily refrain from making bonus-payments to their customers.
- The Government will prepare several temporary amendments to employment legislation in order to provide flexibility for employers e.g. in the context of temporary lay-offs.
4. Entrepreneurs and freelancers, regardless of company form, shall be entitled to unemployment security.
For more information, please see the Finnish Government’s website at https://vnk.fi/artikkeli/ /asset_publisher/hallitus-esittaa-laajoja-taloustoimia-koronavirusepidemian-haittojen-minimoimiseksi (in Finnish).