The spanish government will approve a 11.000 million euro aid package for SMEs and self-employed workers

MadridThe president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Wednesday from Parliament, where he takes stock of the current state of alarm, that the council of ministers will approve in the "coming weeks" an aid package of 11,000 million euros for businesses, SMEs and self-employed workers. In his view, it is a "significant amount" of resources to support sectors that were growing before the pandemic and are now in an "extremely difficult situation", such as the tourist sector, hospitality, hotels, and small businesses.

The Moncloa finally specifies a measure that was long promised by the Ministry of Economy and criticized from the opposition because it arrives with a lot of delay. What Sanchez has not specified, however, is whether it will be through direct aid or credit. Sources in the Ministry of Economy specify that it will be direct aid, as detailed by the Minister Nadia Calviño from Brussels. Sánchez, however, has limited himself to indicating that it has to serve to strengthen the solvency of the balance sheets, to be able to make investments and hire workers to start the economic recovery.

According to Spanish government sources, most of the money will be for SMEs and self-employed workers, and the action plan will include a fund for severance payments and another for recapitalization of SMEs. Negotiations are currently being finalized with the Bank of Spain and other banks and the forecast is that the Ministry of Economy will bring the aid package to the Council of Ministers in March.

The error of the output of the first wave

The beginning of the appearance of Sánchez in Parliament has been concerned mainly with making an analysis of the economic situation, in which he has admitted that the easing of restrictions of the first wave of the coronavirus was "too fast". He also argued that it was probably precipitated by the need to recover the economy and the "emotional" fatigue of the spring lockdown.

However, he has boasted that since the pandemic began, the Spanish government has implemented measures and aid equivalent to 20% of GDP in less than a year. An "exercise in protection that has never been seen before" which, according to Sánchez, only with the direct payment of the furlough scheme and self-employed subsidies has meant an expenditure of 40,800 million euros, to which 1,016 million euros in ICO guarantees and 24,000 million euros for the autonomous communities must be added.

850.000 "quality" jobs in 3 years

In this context, Sánchez expressed his conviction that "economic recovery is a firm hope", and he introduced a new concept. He assured that we are at the beginning of the economic recovery but that there must also be an "emotional recovery" because in addition to advancing in "solid growth" there must also be a "recovery of spirit".

He has again entrusted everything to the "Marshall plan" of European funds, with the promised creation of 850,000 quality jobs in three years because all projects linked to these funds in collaboration with the private sector will have to have the criterion of quality employment.