Corona loans:

“Government gravedigger of the SME sector”

Nachrichten
02.08.2024 12:29

While the coronavirus loans provided help in 2020, many small and medium-sized enterprises are now pessimistic about their financial future. The reason: they cannot repay the loan on time. Financial expert Gerald Zmuegg sees the government as the "gravedigger of the Austrian SME sector". 

The state-backed corona loans will expire in a few months. According to a study by the Finanzombudsteam, almost half of the companies surveyed stated that they would not be able to make the repayments. "With these regulations, the government has allowed companies to fall into a debt trap," says financial expert Gerald Zmuegg in the krone.tv talk with Jana Pasching.

Financial expert Gerald Zmuegg (Bild: krone.tv)
Financial expert Gerald Zmuegg

The specific problem was the term of the loans: "The term was designed so that there would only be one lockdown. As we know, there were then a large number of lockdowns and the government failed to extend the term."

The consequences are far-reaching, explains Zmuegg. "Ultimately, I assume that we will have double-digit unemployment in the first quarter of 2025 at the latest - precisely because there are these bankruptcies." Nothing can be glossed over here. According to Zmuegg, the forecast of 6,000 bankruptcies by the end of the year that has been announced to date will not be met, but far exceeded. "Because such special factors are not usually taken into account." Nevertheless, none of these bankruptcies will be necessary if the term of the loans is extended, according to the financial expert.

"Wild West style"
Zmuegg also describes the ordinance on COFAG aid funds passed in July as a sham. "Companies have waited two years for something to be regulated that the government issued incorrectly and have ultimately not received the money that they were promised in part. This is Wild West style, which is why sooner or later it will have to end up in the Constitutional Court."  

The Covid Financing Agency (COFAG) was dissolved on August 1 after 4 years. The financial administration will take over the rights and obligations. According to Zmuegg, there will also be repayment claims. You can see more information in the video above.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

 krone.at
krone.at
Loading...
00:00 / 00:00
play_arrow
close
expand_more
Loading...
replay_10
skip_previous
play_arrow
skip_next
forward_10
00:00
00:00
1.0x Geschwindigkeit
Loading
Kommentare

Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,

die Kommentarfunktion steht Ihnen ab 6 Uhr wieder wie gewohnt zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
das krone.at-Team

User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.

Kostenlose Spielechevron_right
Vorteilsweltchevron_right