Intervention Categories: Finance policy and financial aid; Stimulus packages and financial support
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Overview: The Dutch Government has further extended its economic support package for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
This includes easing the application criteria for its SME Credit Guarantee (BMKB) scheme, which helps small-to-medium businesses secure loans from banks and other lenders. It has also extended the loan terms under the scheme to four years giving businesses more time to repay it. The extensions are in addition to the increased budget of €1.5 billion allocated to the scheme in early April.
The Government has also extended its SEED Capital scheme and increased the annual budget from €22 million to €32 million. The scheme helps provide small, innovative tech start-ups the ability to obtain venture capital from investment funds.
Additionally, people eligible to claim compensation under the Allowance for Entrepreneurs Affected Sectors (TOGS) scheme for their secondary business activity, but could not do so due to their main business falling outside of the approved sectors for the scheme, can now do so. To date, a quarter of the Dutch business community have recieved the €4,000 one-off payment under the scheme.
The European Commission also recently approved the Government’s increased guarantee ceiling of its Business Loan Guarantee or GO (Garantie Ondernemingsfinanciering) scheme to €10 billion, giving the green light for businesses to get bigger loans from lenders.
Full details here: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-covid-19/nieuws/2020/04/28/coronavirus-verdere-uitbreiding-en-versoepeling-regelingen-voor-ondernemers