Expanded package: $400 for 176,000 individuals and businesses

Prime Minister Edi Rama presented the expanded package of measures. Rama said the financial assistance in the expanded package is worth $70 million for 176,000 beneficiaries. Payments to beneficiaries will begin to be disbursed on April 20. According to Rama, 10,000 tourism employees will receive a 40,000-lek grant, 66,000 large-business employees will receive a 40,000-lek grant, and 100,000 small-business employees will receive one. This assistance will be provided only once. “The first package helped alleviate the pain of those immediately affected. 123,000 families received doubled economic assistance, small businesses were granted aid that continues to be provided daily from taxes, and pensioners had their pensions indexed. Today, after having followed the dynamics of aid, it is time to expand it, as many others have been directly affected and require assistance. As we speak, this expanded package will add another 176,000 individuals and families. We will provide all of them with the financial means to cope with this 40-day period until the end of May. We expect the curve to drop by the end of May, allowing a return to work under strict conditions. On May 20th and 25th, we will be ready with a third package to assist those who will have no income from work. Therefore, assistance will be provided until the end of May. Categories that benefit:

Number of beneficiaries by group

• 10,000 tourism employees will receive 40,000 lek.
• 66,000 employees who have left big business will receive 2.64 billion lek in aid, and employees will directly receive 40,000 lek.
• 100,000 employees in small businesses who have worked, but with minimal turnover and did not benefit from the first package, will receive 40,000 lekë.

For businesses that were denied assistance, I want to clarify that they could not be approved because they were not in the first package, but they will be included in the expanded package. Today we are ready to process them all transparently. In total, the package is 70 million dollars and the beneficiaries will be 176 thousand families and individuals. The other instrument is a $150 million sovereign guarantee for tourism, textiles, and other manufacturers, but with risk sharing between the government and banks. In the first guarantee instrument, the government will cover the interest cost on loans. The extended package defines that all enterprises, excluding the banking system, telecommunications, and installment payments of profit tax, can make them after September 30.”Instalment payments of corporate tax will be made after September 30. As for tourism, garment manufacturers, call centers, and small businesses with a turnover of up to 14 million lekë, instalment payments will be postponed until after December 31 of this year. And of course, the postponement of these payments is done proportionally. This expanded package will be approved within the next 48 hours, while the respective amounts will begin to be disbursed to everyone starting April 20. Source: Monitor.