Entrepreneurs given $58.8M as interest subsidies over COVID-19

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov has said that entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan are provided with AZN 100 million ($58.8M) as interest subsidies on the existing loan portfolio of AZN 1 billion ($588.2M), within a support mechanism to fight COVID-19.

In his Twitter page on March 16, the minister noted that up to date, AZN 34.3 million ($20.1M) of this amount have been paid to entrepreneurs.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan allocated over AZN 1.9 billion ($1.1bn) from its state budget to fight the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Some AZN 1.3 billion ($764.7M) of these funds was used to reduce the pandemic’s negative impact on the country’s economy, macroeconomic stability, employment and entrepreneurship. 

The measures to mitigate the pandemic in 2020 included financial support to protect jobs, introduction of periodic tax breaks, provision of soft loans and others. To this end, business entities in Azerbaijan received financial support in the amount of over AZN 358 million ($210.5M), a package of tax incentives worth AZN 115 million ($67.6M), state-guaranteed loans of AZN 169 million ($99.4M) and AZN 33 million ($19.4M) in the form of interest subsidies on existing loans.

Additionally, the State Tax Service provided financial support worth AZN 246 million ($144.7M) to employees in the country’s regions affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Financial support to micro-entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to AZN 112.2 million ($65.9M).

Earlier, the minister stated that elimination of the consequences of COVID-19, restoration of economic activity and business will be the country’s main priorities in 2021.