CORONAVIRUS - CABINET EXTENDS GOVERNMENT SUPPORT SCHEMES

 Cyprus Mail 3 September 2020 - by George Psyllides

The cabinet has decided to extend a number of programmes designed to mitigate the fallout of the coronavirus crisis until the end of October, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Thursday.

The measures to support workers and businesses were announced on March 16 as the island was entering a period of restrictions designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Measures in place to support the hotel industry, which was hit hard were also extended until the end of October.

The schemes provide for a 60 per cent subsidy of the hotel workers pay provided the business had seen a reduction in turnover of over 40 per cent.

The government will also continue to support activities linked to tourism and businesses, like night clubs, that remain shut because of Covid measures.

These businesses will receive government support as long as they agree not to lay off any staff until the end of the year.

Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said the government had implemented around 60 schemes in three phases concerning five main categories: protection of workers’ income, support of vulnerable groups of the population, support of the health sector, support of borrowers, and support of businesses.

Speaking at a news conference with Emilianides, the finance minister said recession in the second quarter of the year – a  period, which saw restrictive measures and a full lockdown – rose to 11.9 per cent versus 5.5 per cent in the first quarter.

Taking into account the current data, the minister said last April’s forecast of a 7 per cent reduction in GDP remained the same despite the worst-case scenario unfolding in tourism.

Consumption in the first half of the year recorded an overall rise of 1.3 per cent year-on-year, buoyed by a 16.9 per cent increase in public consumption. Private consumption during the first six months on 2020 dropped by 2.5 per cent.

On the employment front, Petrides said, the jobless rate rose slightly to 7.1 per cent compared with 6.7 per cent last year.