State could save €560m on pandemic assistance by targeting it

Most firms (57%) that received the pandemic state assistance would have survived the crisis without subsidies, according to calculations by the Institute for Strategy and Analysis, an analytical unit at the cabinet office ÚV. The assistance was sufficient for 12% of firms and insufficient for the remaining 31%. In total, the state spent €1.1bn on the pandemic assistance for 109,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. If it had been able to target the assistance, it would have saved €560m. The assistance was more effective in the service sector than in the retail segment.

(ISA)