Policy

The Argentine Government created the National Program of Emergency Assistance to Labor and Production, including several benefits for small to medium sized businesses. A compensatory allowance will be paid by the National Social Security Administration to certain workers of businesses of up to 100 employees.

A non-remunerative allowance will be paid for those businesses that exceed the number of 100 employees.

An unemployment benefit will be granted for workers of small to medium sized businesses.

A government monitoring committee has been created to attend requests on this matter.

The National Cabinet agreed that a mandatory code of conduct for commercial tenancies will be developed and legislated by State and Territory governments.

The code of conduct will apply to small and medium enterprises with less than AUD$50 mullion turnover, which also qualify for JobSeeker.

The key measures are that landlords will defer payment of a portion of rent during the pandemic period, and tenants will be required to pay the deferred rent back within a reasonable period. That period will be calculated based on the length of the lease.

States and territories will be responsible for legislating the code of conduct, and for introducing a binding mediation process between landlords and tenants to ensure the code is applied.

The Australian Government is providing two payments totalling between AUD$20,000 and AUD$100,000 to eligible small and medium-sized businesses, and to not-for-profits. To be eligible, businesses and not-for-profits must have annual turnover of under AUD$50 million, and they must employ workers.

Under the expanded scheme, employers will receive an initial payment equal to 100 percent of their salary and wages withheld, with a minimum payment of AUD$10,000, and a maximum payment of AUD$50,000.
An additional payment is also being introduced in the July—October 2020 period.

This payment will be equal to the total that recipients received in the first round of payments. This means that eligible entities will receive at least AUD$20,000, up to a total of AUD$100,000 under both payments.

The Australian Government will provide a guarantee of 50 percent on short term loans to small and medium sized businesses.

The loans will start from 1 April 2020, and will be unsecured and repayment free for six months. Up to AUD$40 billion of lending will be guaranteed.

No further details are recorded for this policy. Refer to the citations below for more information.

15 billion EUR has been set aside for this measure.

No further details are recorded for this policy. Refer to the citations below for more information.

The Ministry of Finance doubled the "Hardship Fund" from 1 billion euros to 2 billion euros, following an expasion of beneficiaries to include self-employed Austrians.

The Ministry of Finance extended the deadline for submitting the annual tax declaration from the end of April and the end of June to August 31, 2020

The Ministry of Finance allocated EUR 9 billion for guarantees and liabilities

The Ministry of Finance allowed taxable persons who suffer from a loss of income due to the SARS-CoV virus to submit an application to reduce income or make corporate tax prepayments for the calendar year, without additional interest.

The Management Committee of Simples Nacional Extended the deadline for payment of taxes within the scope of Simples Nacional. For Individual Microentrepreneurs (MEI), all taxes calculated in the DAS-MEI Generating Program, that is, federal (INSS), state (ICMS) and municipal (ISS) taxes are extended for 6 months. For others they have 3 months for state (ICMS) and municipal (ISS) taxes and 6 months for federal (INSS).

The Banco Central Do Brasil announced a BRL 40 billion emergency credit line in order to support the payroll costs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' (SME). The financing will be released in two tranches of BRL 20 billion, small and medium-sized companies (SME) — will have access, for two months, to an emergency payroll financing line.

The Ministry of Economy Attorney General's Office of the National Treasury (PGFN) determined the suspension of the acts of collection for the next 90 days.

The Brazil's National Bank of Economic and Social Development temporarily suspended of payments of installments of direct financing to companies in the amount of R $ 19 billion and temporary suspension of payments of installments of indirect financing to companies in the amount of R $ 11 billion.

The Ministry of Economy provided companies with annual gross sales of up to R $ 10 million now have a credit line with resources of R $ 1 billion from the Workers' Assistance Fund (FAT), aimed at financing working capital. The financing terms will be up to 48 months.

The Ministry of Economy authorized the Attorney General of the National Treasury (PGFN) to adopt a set of measures to suspend collection acts and facilitate renegotiation.

The Canadian government established an Industry Strategy Council, intended to serve as an advisory board to assess the scope and depth of COVID-19’s impact on industries and inform government understanding of specific sectoral pressures.

The Council will be chaired by Monique Leroux – a business leader with a career in Canadian finance, and comprise senior business leaders from throughout Canada.

The Council aims to build on Canada’s partnerships between government and industry, notably the Economic Strategy Tables, to support Canadians and their jobs. Over the next 90 days, the Council will meet regularly to identify and understand sectoral pressures that are common across the industries.

The Canadian government announced the establishment of the Canada Emergency Rent Assistance (CECRA) in partnership with provinces and territories. This program is intended to lower rent by 75 percent for small businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.

The program will provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50 percent of three monthly rent payments that are payable by eligible small business tenants who are experiencing financial hardship during April, May and June 2020.

The loans will be forgiven if the mortgages property owner agrees to reduce the eligible small business tenants’ rent by at least 75 percent for three corresponding months under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a term not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place. The small business tenant would cover the remainder, up to 25 per cent of the rent.

Impacted small business tenants include businesses paying less than $50,000 per month in rent, and who have temporarily ceased operations or have experienced at least a 70 per cent drop in pre-COVID-19 revenues. This support will also be available to non-profit and charitable organizations.

The Canadian Government announced CA$1.7 billion in targeted support for businesses. The funding is aimed at job protection and business recovery.

CA$675 million in financing support is set aside for small and medium-sized businesses that are unable to access existing support measures

CA$287 million is set aside for rural businesses and communities, including providing access to capital through the Community Futures Network.

CA$500 million is set aside for to establish an Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organisations.

CA$250 million is set aside for assistance to innovative, early-stage companies unable to access existing business support.

CA$20.1 million is set aside for support to Futurpreneur Canada aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs.

The Canadian Government announced businesses, including self-employed individuals, can defer payments of the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) as well as custom duties owing on their imports until 30 June 2020. The measure is intended to reduce cash flow pressures on businesses.

The Canada Revenue Agency announced that businesses are allowed to defer, until after August 31 2020, income tax payments owing on or after March 18 2020 and before September 2020. This relief applies to tax balances due, as well as instalments, as defined in Part I of the Income Tax Act.

No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period.

The General Office of the State Administration of Taxation announced that banks would launch credit products suitable for small and micro enterprises.

These credit products are aimed at further optimising the credit approval process, increasing the speed of loan demand response and extending the duration of loans for small and micro enterprises so that they can have a better development.

Social Security Fees will be tax deductible for certain months during the epidemic prevention and control period. Medium and micro businesses will not pay social security fees for five months, and large businesses will pay half of the social security fees for three months.

The Chinese Government discounted 50 percent of loan interest rates for certain businesses to ensure the actual financing cost of the enterprise falls below 1.6 percent and the discount period does not exceed one year.

The policy applies to enterprises that have special re-loan support of the People's Bank and to new contracts applied for during the epidemic prevention and control period.

The Danish government will compensate companies for between 25 and 80 percent of fixed costs that companies no longer have earnings to cover.

The measure is intended to relieve pressure on companies whose fixed costs threaten their solvency. The compensation scheme will be accessible to businesses across all industries, but is targeted at companies with a large drop in domestic turnover.

Compensation is limited to fixed expenses and covers up to three months.

The Danish government provided an additional 30 days to pay VAT for large companies, who are ordinarily required to pay VAT monthly.

All companies will be granted four additional months to pay their labor contributions, known as ‘a-taxes’.

The tax amendments are intended to ease cash flow pressures on Danish businesses.

The French Government established a solidarity fund which will pay aid to companies particularly affected by the economic, financial and social consequences of the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

The German Government together with the state ministries of economics are setting up contact points for companies affected by disruption of international supply chains. At the political level, these should help to ensure that the production and delivery of required supplier products can be resumed smoothly wherever possible.

The German Government introduced various tax measures to encourage aid for those affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The tax measures simplify various administrative requirements such as the collection of donations, usage of donation, sponsoring, financial support amongst business partners and others, to provide flexibility in supporting support efforts.

The measures will be backdated to 1 March 2020 and continue to 31 December 2020.

The German Government introduced an additional loan programme for small and medium sized enterprises.

Businesses can get immediate loans of up to to three months' turnover, up to a maximum of €500,000 for businesses with up to 50 employees and €800,000 for businesses with more than 50 employees. The loan will be at an interest rate of 3% with a term of 10 years.

To qualify for a loan, Businesses must have more than 10 employees, been in business since 1 January 2019, made a profit in 2019 or on average over the last three years, and been in a sound financial state 31 December 2019.

The loans are provided by private banks under a 100 percent indemnity from the Federal Government. Provided the criteria are met, a loan will be made without further credit risk assessment.

The loan programme is based on the Temporary Framework published by the European Union Commission on 3 April 2020.

The German Government provided an additional €2 billion financial support for start-ups, early stage technology companies and small and medium sized businesses. The money will be used to expand venture capital financing so that funding rounds for German start-ups can continue.

Public venture capital investors will be provided with additional public funds in the short term, which can be used for start-up funding rounds. Fund of funds investors — KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund — will be provided public funds to buy shares from defaulting fund investors.

In Germany, in response to the dynamic spread of the coronavirus and the associated economic consequences, founders and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are supported on state level. The different state banks are providing various measures on a regional level to support established companies with liquidity bottlenecks caused by the effects of the Corona pandemic. Depending on the different state banks, promotional loans and liquidity support are for founders are being granted for 3 up to 7 years since founding.

The German Government, through the development bank KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), is providing partial guarantees for loans to businesses.

The policy is intended to improve access to credit to support companies through short-term liquidity problems caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

While credit applications are handled by retail banks, KfW takes on up to 80 percent of credit risk for large companies and up to 90 percent of credit risks for small companies. In addition, interest rates were further reduced and application processes simplified. For example, there is no risk assessment by KfW for all credit applications up to €3 million and only a basic risk assessment for credit applications up to €10 million. All companies that are in financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis are eligible for these credits.

KfW also now participates in syndicated financing for investments and working capital of medium-sized and large enterprises. Here, KfW assumes up to 80 percent of the risk, but no more than 50 percent of the total debt, to increase chances of obtaining individually structured and tailor-made syndicated financing.

The German Government allowed debtors who are unable to fulfil their contractual obligations because of the COVID 19 pandemic to refuse or discontinue those obligations for the time being, without any legal consequences for them.

This right of refusal applies to consumers and micro-enterprises which, because of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently unable to satisfy claims relating to contracts with ongoing obligations that were signed before 8 March 2020.

The right of refusal lasts until 30 June 2020. This ensures that consumers and micro-enterprises are not cut off from basic services (electricity, gas, telecommunications, and, where regulated by civil law, also water) because they cannot meet their payment obligations due to the crisis.

The German Government limited the right of landlords to terminate rental and lease agreements due to payment arrears. This restriction applies to cases where the arrears are due to the effects of the Corona pandemic.

Arrears of payment from the period 1 April to 30 June 2020 do not entitle the landlord — for a period of 24 months — to terminate the lease. Only if the tenant or lessee has not paid the arrears after 30 June 2022 can the lease be terminated. The obligation of the tenant or leaseholder to pay on time will continue to apply during this period.

The regulations are designed to prevent tenants or leaseholders of commercial premises and land from losing the basis of their employment as a result of temporary loss of income due to the Corona pandemic.

The Government of India extended tax return timeframes for businesses.

Those with an aggregate annual turnover less than Rs. 5 Crore Last date can file GSTR-3B due in March, April and May 2020 by the last week of June 2020. No interest, late fee or penalty will be charged.

Others can file returns due in March, April and May 2020 by the last week of June 2020 but will incur a reduced rate of interest 9 percent per annum from five days after the due date. No late fee and penalty will be charged if paid by 30 June 2020.

The Irish Government provided €200 million in COVID-19 funding for long term loans to businesses, through its Future Growth Loan Scheme which has been operating since June 2019.

Businesses will be able to obtain loans of between €100,000 and €3 million for terms from 8 to 10 years with a maximum interest rate of 4.5 per cent. Loans of up to €500,000 can be unsecured. Interest-only repayments may be available at the start of the loans.

The irish Government established grants to improve online retail capabilities of companies.

Companies with more than ten employees and an existing online presence can apply for grants of between €10,000 and €40,000 to fund up to 80 percent of a project to improve their online capability.

The government has provided €2 million for the scheme.

The Irish Government created a temporary wage subsidy that will be available to employers who keep employees on payroll throughout the pandemic.

The policy is intended to preserve links between employers and employees for when business picks up after the crisis. It is part of the government’s €6.3 billion stimulus package.

The subsidy scheme will refund employers up to a maximum of €410 per each qualifying employee. Employers should pay no more than the normal weekly net pay of the employee. Employers make this payment to their employees through their normal payroll process.

Employers will then be reimbursed for amounts paid to employees and notified to Revenue via the payroll process.

In April, the scheme will move to a subsidy payment based on up to 70 percent of the normal net weekly pay for each employee to a maximum of €410.

To be eligible for the scheme the business must be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19, be able to demonstrate at least a 25 percent decline in turnover, be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully and retain their employees on the payroll.

The Irish Government provided a €2,500 Business Continuity Voucher for businesses that employ up to 50 people.

Businesses can use the voucher to obtain third party consultancy services to assist in developing short-term and long-term strategies to respond to the pandemic.

The voucher is available through Local Enterprise Offices.

The Irish Government relaxed a number of tax compliance obligations for small and medium enterprises.

The application of interest on late payments will be suspended for January and February value added tax and both February and March employers PAYE liabilities.

All debt enforcement activity is suspended until further notice. Current tax clearance status will remain in place for all businesses over the coming months.

The Irish Government provided €200 million worth of loans for businesses through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Working Capital scheme. Businesses can obtain loans of up to €1.5 million with the first €500,000 unsecured.

The Dutch Government has allocated an additional €750 million towards a new Small Credit Corona Guarantee Scheme (KKC), which aims to support banks and other accredited lenders in providing loans to companies with small financing needs (from €10,000 to 50,000).

Under the scheme, 95% of loans provided will be guaranteed by the Government (totalling €713 million). The loans will also have an interest rate of up to 4%. Approval by the European Commission is required before the scheme can officially enter into force.

It is expected that tens of thousands of companies will take advantage of the new scheme.

The Dutch Government has allocated €7.8 million of tax relief to the Caribbean Netherlands to help reduce the cost of living for residents.

All households and businesses will be able to recieve reductions to their utility bills including electricity, drinking water and internet from 1 May to December 2020. This amounts to around USD$44-60 in tax relief per month for households and companies in the Caribbean Netherlands.

The Dutch Government has extended the category of self-employed professionals eligible to apply for its 'Temporary Bridging Scheme for Independent Entrepreneurs' (Tozo). Those who live in the Netherlands, but have businesses established in another European Union (EU) country can now apply for income support under the Tozo scheme.

Those who live elsewhere in the EU, but have businesses in the Netherlands, as well as self-employeed professionals eligible for state pensions, can now apply for low-interest business loans under the scheme. Applications are open until 31 May 2020.

The Tozo scheme is aimed at compensating self-employed professionals who expect to earn less than the minimum wage (for the period 1 March to 31 August 2020) as a result of COVID-19. Those who are married or codependent can recieve €1500 net a month for a maximum of three months, while those who are single can get €1050. Those facing cash-flow problems can also request a three year loan of up to €10,517 at an interest rate of 2 percent, with repayments from January 2021.

The government has allocated €3.8 billion to fund the scheme and is providing local authorities €250 million in advance to enable its implementation.

The Dutch Government has announced a one-off compensation scheme for entrepreneurs operating in the Caribbean Netherlands, who are affected by the COVID-19 measures.

Entrepreneurs on the islands of Bonaire, Saba or Sint Eustatius, can recieve a one-off payment of $4400 if they expect to lose at least $4400 in sales (for the period 13 March to 12 June 2020), and have at least $4400 in fixed expenses during the same period.

Fixed expenses include, for example, costs for commercial premises, insurance and financing, but do not include taxes, employer contributions and wage costs.

The Dutch Government has provided an additional €1.2 billion to local authorities to ensure implementation of its Temporary Bridging Scheme for Independent Entrepreneurs (Tozo).

The scheme is aimed at compensating self-employed professionals who expect to earn less than the minimum wage (currently €1,653.60 per month for people over the age of 21) over the next three months as a result of COVID-19.

The government has allocated €3.8 billion to fund the scheme. In late March 2020, local authorities recieved €250 million in advance from the Government to implement the Tozo scheme. The €1.2 billion is a second advance payment for local authorities towards the scheme.

The Dutch Government has extended its Growth Facility Scheme (Regeling Groeifaciliteit) until 1 July 2021.

The scheme provides investors who invest in small to medium enterprises a government guarantee that if they incur a loss on the investment, they can claim 50 percent of that loss. The term of the guarantee is a maximum of 12 years.

The Dutch Government has allocated €100 million to help startups and other small innovative companies to get loans under the so-called Corona Bridging Loan (COL) scheme from 29 April 2020. This bridging loan is aimed to help start-ups, scale-ups and innovative SMEs with loans ranging from €50,000 to €2 million, at an interest rate of 3 percent. For loans above €250,000, shareholders or other investors are expected to co-finance 25 percent of the loan. Applications for loans under €500,000 are expected to be processed within four to nine working days, while those above €500,000, are likely to have decisions made within three working weeks.

The Dutch Government established a subsidy businesses pay employee wages under a new Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Sustained Employment or NOW (Noodfonds Overbrugging Werkgelegenheid) scheme.

Businesses who expect to lose at least 20 percent or more in turnover from 1 March 2020 or onwards can apply for compensation under the scheme to help pay their employees’ wages for up to 6 months. Businesses can claim up to 90 percent of wages, depending on how much turnover they lose.

The scheme replaces the Unemployment Benefit During Short-time Working (WTV or Werktijdverkorting), which was cancelled on 17 March 2020. People who already applied for the WTV permit, will automatically be considered under the new NOW scheme.

The Dutch Government is offering select businesses a one-off payment of €4,000 to compensate for the impact by COVID-19 measures on their business through its Allowance for Entrepreneurs Affected Sectors (TOGS) scheme.

The scheme includes businesses in retail, tourism, education, recreation, wellness and other services who have suffered damage due to forced closures, limitations to meetings and international travel restrictions.

Only specific businesses registered under a Standard Business Classification code are eligible for compensation under the TOGs scheme. On 7 April 2020, the Dutch Government has recently expanded the category of jobs allowed to apply for the one-off payment.

Businesses such as tattoo shops, taxi services, dentists, physiotherapists and food, beverage and cultural event suppliers and smaller food retailers can now apply for the one-off payment towards their business costs.

The Dutch Government has temporarily relaxed rules for the delivery of goods to essential sectors such as supermarkets, pharmacies, fuel stations, waste and garbage facilities.

The driving times for transporters have been increased to a maximum 11 hours per day, 60 hours per week, and 96 hours every two weeks.

The rules apply only to the delivery of food, agricultural, livestock, petroleum, cleaning, pharmaceutical and medicinal products (including medical devices), as well as waste and garbage.

The Dutch Government has set aside €6 million for microfinance company Qredits, to prevent Dutch entrepreneurs from having to repay their microcredit loans (up to $50,000) for a period of 6 months, as well as to reduce interests on loans to 2 percent during the same period.

Qredits provides small business loans to approximately 20,000 Dutch businesses. The government’s contribution is expected to help 3,000 to 6,000 small entrepreneurs.

The New Zealand Government established an interest free loan scheme for small businesses.

The government will make loans to firms employing 50 people or fewer of $10,000, plus $1,800 per full-time employee up to a total of $100,000.

The loans will be interest free if paid back within a year. No repayments need to be made in the first two years. Interest will be charged at no more than 3 per cent for a maximum term of five years.

All firms will be able to get $10,000, and further amounts of $1,800 per full-time employee.

To qualify, a firm must declare its business is viable, that the loan will be used for core business operating costs, and enter a loan agreement.

The scheme will be administered by Inland Revenue and applications accepted from 12 May 2020.

The New Zealand Government has changed tax rules to allow businesses to carry losses back on year. This means many businesses will be able to access their previous tax payments as cash refunds.

Businesses expecting to make a loss in the 2019/20 or 2020/21 tax year will be able to estimate the loss and use it to offset profits in the past year.

The government can then refund some or all the tax already paid for the year the company was in profit, and businesses could in effect cash out losses in 2019/20 or 2020/21.

Without the change, firms would have to wait for a future profitable year to carry forward and take advantage of any loss.

The Governement estimates this change will cost NZ$3.1 billion over the next two years.

Legislation to enact the changes will be introduced on 27 April 2020 and will apply retrospectively.

The New Zealand Government has extending the timeframes required before landlords can cancel leases and mortgagees can exercise their rights to sale or repossession. The measures are inteded to support stability in commercial property transactions and allow more time for breaches or defaults to be remedied.

The period in which a commercial landlord may cancel a lease is extended to 30 working days, up from 10 working days. The extension will apply to both the period the tenant is in arrears before the notice is given, and for the period to remedy the breach.

The government has extended the timeframes for mortgagees to exercise their rights to sale or repossession from 20 to 40 working days for mortgaged land, and from 10 to 20 working days for mortgaged goods.

The extension will apply to commercial mortgages and home loans, but the government expects most residential borrowers will be protected by the existing mortgage deferrals.

Legislation to enact the changes will be introduced on 27 April 2020 and will apply retrospectively.

The New Zealand Government will change tax rules to allow companies to carry forward losses despite a substantial change in ownership.

Previously, if a company has more than a 51% change in ownership it cannot keep its tax losses. The government intends to change the law to allow losses to be carried forward if a business continues in the same or a similar way it did before ownership changed. This is the ‘same or similar business’ test, modelled on Australia’s rules.

The change is intended to improve access to capital for businesses because being able to carry forward losses makes the business more valuable to investors.

The government has made an in-principle decision to change the law to give taxpayers raising capital a level of certainty to undertake these transactions. Legislation will be introduced following consultation in the second half of 2020.

The New Zealand Government has created a process whereby any business affected by COVID-19 will be allowed to defer payment of debts for six months — a “business debt hibernation” — with the agreement of 50 percent of the business’s creditors.

The changes are intended to avoid premature or unnecessary insolvencies.

The legislation to give effect to the changes was introduced to Parliament on 5 May 2020.

The New Zealand Government will temporarily change key legal obligations on companies and other entities.

Administrative changes will allow greater use of electronic signatures, extension of deadlines for regulatory filing obligations, and exemptions for entities which are unable to comply with their constitutions or rules because of public health restrictions.

The legislation to give effect to the changes was introduced to Parliament on 5 May 2020.

The New Zealand Government negotiated with retail banks to provide a six month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and small to medium business customers whose incomes have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Banks will publish details of the scheme once details have been finalised.

The New Zealand Government asked the independent competition regulator, the Commerce Commission, to take a flexible approach to businesses cooperating during the COVID19 pandemic. Ordinarily it is unlawful for competing businesses to cooperate.

The request is intended to facilitate cooperation between businesses to ensure continued access to products during the pandemic.

The State Bank of Pakistan announced that it would provide soft loans to industries that do not lay off their workers and continue to pay them their monthly salaries.

A soft loan is a loan with a below-market rate of interest.

The State Bank of Pakistan increased the regulatory retail limit on the extension of credit for small to medium enterprises to Rs 180 million from Rs 125 million.

The measure is intended to incentivize banks to provide additional loans to retail small to medium enterprises.

The State Bank of Pakistan has relaxed the regulatory criteria for restructuring and rescheduling loans.

Loans re-scheduled or restructured within 180 days from the due date of payment will not be treated as defaults. Banks would also not be required to suspend the unrealized mark-up against such loans.

The timeline for classification of trade bills has also been extended from 180 days to 365 days.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru ordered that factoring companies access credit lines and guarantees that The CRECER Fund provides in order to facilitate access to working capital for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru announced it will inject 30 billion soles into banks for loans to mainly smaller companies to help cover their working capital.

Loans will be guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Liquidity will be provided by the central bank. Terms are to be three years.

The The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) allowed insurance companies to modify the payment schedules originally agreed with the insurance contractors, and imposed restrictions on terminating insurance in cases where premiums are not paid.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) directed banks to extend the validity of ATM cards that have expired or are about to expire.

SAMA also directed banks not to suspend individuals’ bank accounts.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) has increased the allowed top-up of the monthly ceiling limit for e-wallets up to (20,000) SAR.

SAMA has instructed that licensed Payment Services Providers (PSPs) should provide the necessary support and guidance and instructions to the clients.

The Social Development Bank has launched a SAR 12 billion program to cushion the economic impact of COVID-19 on family based small to medium enterprises and limited income families.

Support for low income families will increase by 4 billion riyadh.

2 billion riyals is allocated for the support of small and micro- enterprises.

2 billion riyals is allocated for the support of small health care centers.

2 billion riyals is allocated for funding 50 thousand small establishments to support local content in all regions of the Kingdom.

Grace period for payments is extended for all projects that were funded during 2019 and 2020 for 6 months, bringing the total value of the deferred premiums to 2 billion riyals.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority introduced a SAR 50 billion private sector financing support program.

The program will reduce cash flow fluctuations, support working capital, enable the sector to grow during the coming period and contribute to supporting economic growth, and maintaining employment.

The program consists of three sub-programs: a deferred payments program, funding for lending program and loan guarantee program.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority will provide concessional finance of about SAR 13.2 billion for small to medium enterprises by granting loans from banks and finance companies to the SME sector to support business continuity and sector growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Singapore Government will grant an automatic three-month deferment of corporate income tax payments due in the months of April, May, and June 2020. Payments deferred from April, May, and June 2020 will instead be collected in July, August, and September 2020.

This measure was announced as part of the government’s Resilience Budget.

The Singapore Government will grant a property tax rebate for qualifying non-residential properties for the period of 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2020. This measure is an enhancement of the property tax rebate announced at Budget 2020 on 18 February 2020. It extends the rebate to additional types of properties, and increases the amount of rebate for certain types of properties.

Owners of qualifying properties will be granted rebates of up to 100% on their property tax payable. Landlords are expected to fully pass on the rebate to their tenants by reducing rentals to directly ease the cash flow and cost pressures faced by tenants. For properties that are eligible for 100% property tax rebate, this is equivalent to more than one month’s rental.

All qualifying non-residential properties have been classified into types which will receive rebates of 30%, 60% or 100%.

This measure was announced as part of the government’s Resilience Budget.

The Government of South Africa announced that as part of the second phase of economic response to the virus an additional R100 billion will be set aside for the protection of jobs and to create jobs.

R40 billion has been set aside for income support payments for workers who are not able to pay their wages.

The Government of South Africa announced that as part of the second phase of economic response to the virus an additional R2 billion will be made available to assist small to medium enterprises and spaza shop owners and other small businesses.

The Government of South Africa in partnership with Nedbank created a support scheme for 'Spaza shops' (informal convinience stores).

The support scheme is also intended for general dealers and grocery stores in townships and villages that are 100 percent owned by South African Citizens. Support includes access to working capital investment and credit facility, business management support and legal compliance support.

The Government of South Africa provided R500 Million to support small businesses with debt relief during the pandemic.

This measure is intended to assist businesses affected by COVID-19.

The Government of South Africa has exempted commercial banks from ordinary competition laws.

The measure is aimed at enabling banks to coordinate approaches to debt relief and similar measures for businesses and people experiencing financial stress.

In particular, banks will be able to coordinate approaches to payment holidays and debt relief, limitations on asset repossessions, and the extension of credit lines.

The Government of South Africa is providing over R500 million, available immediately, to support small and medium enterprises. The application process to access the cash grants has also been simplified.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced it would increase the size of the Incheon International Airport free trade zone by 10 percent and the Busan Port by 30 percent, to improve export capacity.

The Korean government expanded its previously-announced wage subsidy plan from 100 billion won (US$80.8 million) to 500 billion won (US$400.3 million).

Payment of social security debts by companies and self-employed workers are deferred if they were due to be paid between April and June 2020, provided that the individual had no other postponement in force.

The Government of Spain created a line of insurance coverage of up to 2 billion euros from the Risk Reserve Fund for Internationalisation.

This measure is intended to provide additional liquidity to companies, especially SMEs and the self-employed.

The Swedish Government implemented a temporary measure to reduce employer’s costs and social security contributions for up to 30 employees per company up until the 30th of June 2020.

The reduction means that only old age pension contribution is paid and is equivalent to a reduction in employer’s costs up to SEK 5300 per employee and month.

The Swedish Government introduced a temporary change to tax rules so that sole proprietors severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak will receive tax cuts.

All taxable profits for 2019, up to SEK 1 million, can be set aside in the tax allocation reserve and then be set off against possible future losses. This means that many people will be able to get back the preliminary tax they paid in 2019.

The tax cut is applicable to sole traders and natural persons who are partners in Swedish partnerships.

The Swedish Government allowed companies to request deferred payment of Value Added Tax and certain employers costs.

Companies will pay interest on deferred payments and can request to defer already paid amounts (going back to 27th of December 2019) which would result in receiving funds back from the government to boost short term liquidity.

In total up to three months worth of payments can be deferred by up to 12 months.

The Thailand Board of Investment confirmed that a 50 percent reduction in corporate income tax for a period of 3 years will be extended to investments in the medical sector.

This extension is on the condition that investments realise production output by 31 December 2020, and that 50 percent of the output is distributed or donated domestically between 2020-2021.

Cabinet approved B600 billion for six months of direct cash stimulus and a further B500 billion in soft loans for small and medium sized businesses.

This measure was announced as part of the third phase of the Thai Government’s economic stimulus programme, totalling B1.9 trillion.

This measure was announced as part of the second phase of the Thai Government’s economic stimulus programme, totalling B117 billion.

This measure was announced as part of the first phase of the Thai Government’s B400 billion economic stimulus programme.

The UK Government reallocated £600,000 of existing funding for the Ministry of Justice to charities which offer remote based support services for victims.

This funding shift will allow helplines to stay open longer and employ more support workers to handle calls.

The money will also be used to fund the technology needed for other forms of contact such as video calls as well as a new online chat service and digital hub run by Victim Support.

The UK Government launched a support finder tool for businesses.

The tool is for businesses and self-employed to quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them during the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Government expanded the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme to cover large businesses.

Under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loans Scheme, all viable businesses with turnover of more than £45m can apply for up to £25 million of government-backed finance. Businesses with turnover of more than £250 million can borrow up to £50 million.

The government provides lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance. The list of accredited lenders is listed on the British Business Bank website.

Business with turnovers of more than £500 million were originally not eligible for the scheme. The measure is intended to ensure more firms are able to benefit from government support.

The UK Government will allow companies to apply for a three month extension to file accounts, and intends to automatically approve applications for extensions related to COVID-19.

Ordinarily, companies are penalised if accounts are filed late.

The UK Government deferred self-assessed income tax payments, with no penalties or interest for late payment until 31 January 2021, with the option to set up a budget payment plan.

The UK Government provided on-off grants of £10,000 to small businesses that already pay little or no business rates. Grants will be administered by local authorities.

The U.S. Congress allocated billions of dollars in funding through multiple legislative packages for small business loans, forgiveable loans, and grants. Phase 3.5 legislation allocated $2.1 billion to the Small Business Administration to administer the program.

Multiple bills provided funding for small business emergency grants. Phase 3 legislation included $10 billion for small business emergency grants of up to $10,000 per business to assist with immediate operating costs. Phase 3.5 legislation provided an additional $10 billion for these grants.

In addition, multiple bills funded small business loans. Phase 1 legislation allocated $20 million for the Small Business Administration to issue low-interest economic injury disaster loans. Phase 3 legislation allocated $350 billion for small business forgivable loans of up to $10 million per business. If a business keeps workers on through the end of June, portions of the loan for items such as payroll, rent, or existing debt can be forgiven. Phase 3 legislation also allocated $17 billion to extend existing Small Business Administration loan payments for six months. Phase 3.5 legislation funded an additional $50 billion in loan subsidies as part of $350 billion in economic injury disaster loans.

Small businesses are defined as those with 500 or fewer employees.

The Government is considering further relief aid to revive the local economy, following the introduction last month of the VND62-trillion financial support package to help poor people and businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has completed a draft stipulating missions and solutions to bolster production and business activities, speed up public investment disbursement and secure social order. Besides this, the draft aims to improve the investment environment to attract more resources for the country.

According to the draft resolution, the ministry suggested a business registration fee exemption for business households affected by the disease and a 30% reduction of the land leasing fee for six months for companies that have ceased operations.

For the aviation sector, the ministry proposed guarantee-fee exemptions in 2020 for loans endorsed by the Government, together with a 50% reduction in takeoff and landing fees and the management fees of domestic flights.

The ministry also suggested deferring value added tax payments for virus-hit sectors such as apparel, footwear and beverages; cutting lending rates for small and medium-sized enterprises; and postponing personal income tax payments.

According to the draft, foreign experts, business leaders and skilled workers may be subject to a special entry procedure to maintain business operations in the country. The Government will also consider streamlining administrative procedures to attract investment and speed up project progress.

Under Directive 19, non-essential services like beauty clinics, karaoke, massage parlors, bars, entertainment venues will continue to remain closed until further notice.

Services like wholesale and retail, lotteries, hotels and other accommodation facilities, and restaurants, sport training facilities, tourist sites are allowed to reopen provided that the safety measures are deployed.

The Government of Vietnam announced it would provide cash transfers to affected people ,workers and household businesses for three months from April 2020.

People living within or just above the poverty line will receive VND1.0 million a month.

People already receiving social protection monthly allowance will receive VND 0.5 million a month.

Workers having to stop work temporarily or on unpaid leave will receive VND 1.8 million a month.

Unemployed workers without unemployment insurance and self-employed workers will receive VND 1.0 million a month.

Households businesses that have been suspended will receive VND1.0 million a month.

The package is worth VND 62,000 billion.

The Government of Vietnam deferred payment of value added tax, personal income tax, corporate income tax, and land rental for five months from the deadline of payments for March, April, May or Q1, Q2 for affected individuals and businesses.

The package is worth VND 180 000 billion.

The State Bank of Vietnam imposed an interest rate of 1 percent per annum for deposits in VND at the Vietnam Development Bank, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, the People’s Credit Funds and micro finance institutions.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs suspended contributions from affected businesses to the pension fund and survivorship fund for up to 12 months.

The Australian Government will provide higher education institutions with regulatory fee relief from the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. There will also be a six month exemption from loan fees under FEE-HELP and VET Student Loans.

Institutions do not need to apply for funding under the scheme. Payments will be triggered when students enrol. The scheme will not affect eligiblity for JobKeeper.

The Government of Austria provided 5 million EUR for artists who are not eligible for other economic support packages.

The Banco Central do Brazil adapted rules for remote reporting losses of Agricultural Activity Guarantee Program (Proagro) beneficiaries to COVID-19.

The Canadian government established an Industry Strategy Council, intended to serve as an advisory board to assess the scope and depth of COVID-19’s impact on industries and inform government understanding of specific sectoral pressures.

The Council will be chaired by Monique Leroux – a business leader with a career in Canadian finance, and comprise senior business leaders from throughout Canada.

The Council aims to build on Canada’s partnerships between government and industry, notably the Economic Strategy Tables, to support Canadians and their jobs. Over the next 90 days, the Council will meet regularly to identify and understand sectoral pressures that are common across the industries.

The Canadian government announced $62.5 million in assistance to the fish and seafood processing sector.

The recently established Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund is intended to help businesses access short-term financing, add storage capacity for unsold product, comply with new health and safety measures for workers, support new manufacturing/automated technologies, and adapt products to response to changing requirements and new market demands.

The Canadian Government announced the waiving of ground lease rents from March 2020 through December 2020 for the 21 airport authorities that pay rent to the federal government.

The government will also provide comparable treatment for PortsToronto, which operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and pays a charge to the federal government. This support will help airports reduce cost pressures and preserve cash flow. This will provide relief of up to CA$331.4 million, based on 2018 payments.

The Ministry of Commerce provided support to export businesses through the use of short-term export credit insurance policy tools.

The intention is that CITIC Insurance's business institutions act as policy-oriented financial institutions, that they further expand the coverage of short-term insurance, and that they coordinate resource allocation and introduce targeted professional services.

This policy aims to strengthen export risk management and to reduce business loss for foreign trade enterprises.

The German Government funded consulting services for small and medium enterprises, including freelancers, affected by COVID-19. Consulting services of €4,000 are available until the end of 2020.

The policy is intended to assist businesses to develop measures to limit the economic consequences of the corona crisis and to regain their competitiveness.

The German Government introduced a legal basis for service providers to continue making payments to social service providers and institutions, regardless of whether or not they actually carry out their originally agreed service.

It is based on an amount which, in principle, is equivalent each month to a maximum of 75 percent of the average amount of the last 12 months. In return, social service providers should support crisis management with the capacities at their disposal.

In Germany, social service providers are remunerated by service carriers (“Leistungsträger”) for providing social services. Social service providers as not-for-profit entities are not allowed to build up financial reserves and usually cannot access credit.

The Dutch Government has allocated an extra €110 million to sports associations or clubs affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

€90 million will go owards covering rent for sports clubs over the period 1 March to 1 June 2020, which supports more than 11,000 sports clubs.

€20 million will go towards compensation scheme, providing sports clubs a one-off allowance of up to €2500. This is aimed at helping clubs resume training for young people and set up activities for non-members.

The Dutch Government has launched an online platform (www.NLwerktdoor.nl) to help match employers with people who have become unemployed as a result of COVID-19. The platform is a collaborative effort with employer organisations, unions, education centres and local government authorities, and has recieved 20,000 registrations already.

The online platform has been established to address difficulties businesses are facing to recruit additional personnel, particularly in healthcare, logistics, agriculture and horticulture sectors. At the same time, the platform seeks to provide assistance to people who cannot find employment, despite being capable and willing to work. At the end of March, a total of 250,000 people registered for the unemployment benefit, an increase of 10,000 compared to February.

The Dutch Goverment has provided an additional €300 million towards the country's cultural sector. The support is aimed at helping cultural institutions maintain employment and overcome financial difficulties due to COVID-19, as well as enable their investment in the coming cultural season.

The money will go towards increasing subsidies to maintain cultural infrastructure and festivals, as well as increasing the National Restoration Fund for national monuments. It will also extend national funds to support cultural infrastructure in regions and cities, such as important municipal and provincial museums, stages and film theaters, as well as free theater producers, commercial festivals and art galleries.

The Dutch Government has allocated €11 million towards a new Temporary Support for Local Media scheme.

The scheme allows local newspapers and public service broadcasters to apply for a one-off contribution of between €4,000 to tens of thousands of euros, depending on circulation and reach. For example, a public service broadcaster can get €6,600 to €16,500 if their reach was around 20,000 or 50,000 respectively. A local newspaper can get €13,200 to €33,000 for a similar reach.

The extra contribution is meant to cover a period of three months from 15 March to 15 June 2020. The policy is intended to ensure local communities continue to receive local news and information.

The Regional Public Broadcasting is also providing €2 million to boost regional and local journalism.

Additionally, the Government is extending the deadline for annual reports to be submitted by government subsidised media organisations from 1 May to 1 June 2020.

The Dutch Government will provide payments in advance to help export businesses impacted by COVID-19 maintain the cost of running their businesses. This support will be provided through the Dutch Trade and Investment Fund (DTIF) which provides loans, guarantees and export financing to exporters.

The Dutch Government will make advance subsidy payments to the arts and culture sector. The payments are usually made in the third-quarter of the year.

The government has guaranteed that subsidies will continue to be available to cultural institutions even if they can’t meet agreed performance numbers.

The government is also considering ways to reimburse ticket holders, perhaps in the form of vouchers.

The Dutch Government has extended their Incentive scheme eHealth at Home (SET), which allows healthcare organisations to apply for a subsidy of up to €50,000 for the development of new apps, software or other digital solutions that improve their client’s quality of life, including tools to provide better and more efficient healthcare.

As of 27 March, this subsidy is temporarily unavailable due to the unexpectedly large number of applications.

The New Zealand Government changed the law to allow the Commerce Commission to to authorise conduct that may technically breach the restrictions on cartel conduct, but would be of such a benefit to the public that it should be permitted.

The New Zealand Government has provided $NZ48 million in loans to various regional development projects which are intended to help offset the economic impact of COVID-19.

The projects receiving loans include water storage projects and horticulture development on under-utilised land.

The New Zealand Government began repurposing regional development subsidies, distributed through its Provincial Growth Fund, to focus on responding to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Priority will be given to projects which: redeploy displaced workers, first to horticulture and manufacturing and later to public works; national programmes that will support employment and community resilience long term, such as apprenticeship; generate job opportunities in the short term and support the rebuild of the economy beyond the recovery, particularly in the primary sector and manufacturing; and infrastructure investments under NZ$10 million that support employment in the short term and strengthen fundamental infrastructure in surge regions.

The New Zealand Government has committed to maintain current levels of funding to national sports organisations for the next year.

The New Zealand Government is seeking infrastructure projects which are ready to begin within six months once restrictions on construction are lifted.The kind of projects the government will consider include water, transport clean energy and buildings with a public or regional benefit. An industry reference group has been established to identify suitable projects.

The government has begun work on law changes to accelerate the planning approval process for infrastructure projects. The policy is intended to reduce the economic impact of COVID-19.

The New Zealand Government will provide NZ$600 million to support airlines and air freight operators to maintain air freight services. Airlines and air freight businesses will be invited to submit proposals for financial support to deliver freight capacity on key routes.

The funding is intended to preserve New Zealand’s access to critical imports of medicines and medical supplies, and the export of high value goods. NZ$1 million of the funding has been committed to Air New Zealand freight flights.

The Pakistan Government will compensation Pakistan Railways, the state-owned railway company, for lost revenue as a result of the closure of train services across Pakistan.

This measure was taken as Pakistan Railways was losing Rs1 billion in revenue every week.

The government has asked all employees of Pakistan Railways over the age of 50 and working in the Islamabad carriage factory, the Rawalpindi central diesel locomotive workshop and the Risalpur locomotive factory to go on leave without any cut in salary.

The Pakistan Government devised guidelines to make industries and shops operational.

This decision was made at a meeting held at the National Command Centre of COVID-19. It is intended to support the economy while stopping the spread of the disease, and prevent a break-down of lockdown due to hunger.

The Pakistan Government approved Rs100bn for the deferred payment of loans for small and medium enterprises and agriculture and concession loans to ensure their input costs do not go up. Additionally, the government will try to reduce the price of fertiliser.

This policy is part of the RS1.25 trillion economic package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan on 24 March 2020 aimed at absorbing the adverse impacts of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru imposed payment plans for payments to public telecoms during March and the rest of the national emergency to be extended for up to 12 months. Telecommunications companies will not be compensated by the government and can reduce service quality to those who don't pay.

The The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) SBS suspended deadlines for responding to claims occurred at the national level. This encompasses the presentation of claims notices, coverage requests, claims adjustment and settlement processes, and communications on claims rejection.

The Singaporean Government has provided financial support to the maritime sector.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) will provide a 50 percent port dues concession to cruise ships and regional ferries with a port stay of no more than five days, and passenger-carrying harbour craft. This measure will be implemented from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Singapore Cruise Centre will provide a 15 percent rebate to regional ferry operators to offset their rental fees for overnight berthing of vessels and counter rental at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal for three months from March 2020. The MPA will provide an additional 35 percent rebate to these operators.

THe MPA will grant passenger terminal operators a 100 percent waiver of their public licence fees for one year.

The Government of South Africa announced the second and third phases of its economic response to COVID 19 pandemic.

Phase 1 began in mid March 2020 and included tax relief, release of disaster relief funds, emergency procurement and wage support.

Phase 2 is intended to stabilise the economy and address the decline in supply and demand.

This includes a social and economic relief support package of R500 billion (10% of GDP). R130 billion within the current budget will be reprioritised, and the rest will be raised from local sources and global partners and finance institutions.

Phase 3 is to be implemented to drive the economy as the country emerges from the pandemic.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has set aside R1.2 billion to assist financially distressed small-scale farmers.

Of the R1.2 billion, R400 million has been allocated for farmers within the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) programme. The remainder will be channelled to all other farmers, mainly within the poultry, other livestock and vegetables sectors. Other commodity sectors will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

The measure is intended to provide immediate support to small-scale farmers affected by COVID-19, and to ensure food supply.

To qualify for support, farmers must be South African citizens who have been actively farming for 12 months and have an annual turnover between R50 000 and R1 million, or be a communal farmer, among other criteria. Priority will be given to women, youth and people with disabilities.

Funding will not go toward mechanisation, infrastructure and overhead cost, or the payment of debts. Farmers who are currently receiving support through other government programmes are also ineligible.

Applications for funding will be open from 8 April to 22 April 2020.

The Government of South Africa classified the food and agriculture sector as essential so that they can continue to function during the 21 day lock down period.

The entire sector is classified as essential, ranging from farms, agro-processing and food manufacturing, to logistics and related services, and wholesale and retail services.

Live auctions of livestock and the sale of other agricultural commodities will continue, but under strict conditions that account for COVID-19.

The Government of South Africa is providing a stimulus package of R3 billion.

The package is intended to stabilise a range of industries, and is being delivered by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, which assists with funding and technical assistance for a range of manufacturers to acquire machinery and equipment.

Other aims of the package are to support food security, tourism, supply chain continuity, primary energy, and to provide working capital to small and medium enterprises that provide components to car-makers.

The Bank of Korea announced it would offer loans directly to banks, brokerages, and insurers for up to six months, requiring AA- rated or above bonds as collateral.

The program is worth 10 trillion won (US $ 8 billion), and will run for three months, effective May 4.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced it would increase the size of the Incheon International Airport free trade zone by 10 percent and the Busan Port by 30 percent, to improve export capacity.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced it would offer job maintenance funds to businesses in the tourism industry, subsidizing up to 90 percent of the cost of employee leaves of absence.

Up to 171,500 workers in the tourism industry will be eligible for the subsidy.

The Swedish Sports Confederation and grant-allocating agencies in the area of culture received an extra SEK 1 billion to distribute to actors in the the sports and culture industries to support them in dealing with the economic consequences of COVID-19.

The funding was split 50/50 between sports and culture at SEK 500 million allocated to each industry. The funds were granted to activities that are losing revenue as a result of the restriction on public gatherings.

The UK Government provided new funding of up to £167 million to be paid over 12 weeks under the new COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant.

The funding is designed to enable bus operators to maintain necessary services at a level sufficient to meet reduced demand, but also to allow adequate space between passengers on board.

The Government also committed to paying £200 million of existing funding under the Bus Services Operators Grant as normal, even though not all services may run during this time.

£30 million of extra government bus funding, originally intended for starting new services, will instead be paid to local authorities to maintain existing services.

The UK Government suspended normal franchise agreements with train operators and assumed all revenue and cost risk for six months.

The government will pay a small management fee to operators to continue a small number of services for essential workers. Operators may accept these terms. If they do not, the government’s operator of last resort will operate the services.

The UK Government banned parallel export of various medicines used to treat patients in intensive care units.

Parallel export is where a company buys medicines intended for domestic use and sells the medicine for a higher price in another country.

The ban applies to more than 80 medicines and includes adrenaline, insulin, paracetamol and morphine.

The UK Government relaxed planning rules to allow pubs and restaurants to operate as takeaways, with the relaxation of planning measures to be introduced as soon as possible and to apply for a limited period.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved a proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to resume normal rice export from 1 May.

The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the official cash rate from 0.5 percent to 0.25 percent.

The official cash rate is the interest rate set by the Reserve Bank for overnight lending to banks, and influences market interest rates generally. The reduction in the official cash rate is intended to keep market interest rates down and allow people and businesses to borrow money more cheaply.

Exchange settlement balances at the Reserve Bank will be remunerated at 10 basis points, rather than zero as would have been the case under the previous arrangements.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority extended the ban on short sales in certain financial instruments listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

The ban was initially imposed on 18 March 2020, and has been extended until 18 May 2020. The ban now applies to all net short positions, and will take effect on 16 April 2020.

The Austrian Financial Market Authority banned short-selling on the Vienna stock exchange for a month to shield the equities market from volatility.

The Banco Central do Brasil extended the maximum period between contracting and settling the export exchange contract to 1,500 days.

The Banco Central do Brasil postponed the entry into force of the regulations on internal policies, procedures and controls to be adopted by the regulated institutions in preventing the use of the financial system for the practice of crimes of "laundering" or concealment of assets, rights and values ​​and financing of terrorism (PLDFT). The new rules were due to take effect in July and, with the change, take effect on October 1.

The Banco Central do Brasil decided to allow repurchased Letras Financeiras (LFs) to be deducted from reserve requirements on time deposits.

The Banco Central do Brasil reduced the Risk Weighting Factor (FPR) applicable to credit operations with small and medium-sized companies from 100% to 85% from March 16, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

The Banco Central do Brasil increased the maximum amount of Time Deposits with Special Guarantee (DPGE) for each person against the same financial institution associated with the FGC, or against all associated institutions of the same financial conglomerate, to R $ 40 million from R $ 20 million.

The Banco Central do Brazil established a special Temporary Liquidity Line (LTEL), with the objective of offering the necessary liquidity so that the National Financial System can remain stable in the face of the increased demand observed in the credit market,result of the reflexes of the spread of COVID-19.

The Banco Central Do Brasil exempted banks from making additional provisions for performing loans that are refinanced during the next six months.

The Banco Central Do Brasil reduced the reserve requirement ratio on time deposits and increased the amount of reserve requirements that is considered as High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLA) in the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR).

The Banco Central Do Brasil changed rules so that credit fintechs' corporate control may now be conducted indirectly by "private equity funds", through a legal person resident in Brazil, whose specific corporate purpose is to hold financial institutions' shares.

The Banco Central Do Brasil introduced a New Term Deposit with Special Guarantees (NDPGE) as an alternative fund-raising tool for all financial institutions associated with the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC).

The Banco Central Do Brasil will grant loans backed by debentures to financial institutions through the Temporary Liquidity Line in domestic currency.

The Banco Central Do Brasil changed roles so that the tax effects arising from the overhedge of equity investments held abroad will not be deducted from equity temporarily.

The Banco Central Do Brasil reduced the spread of liquidity leveling operations from +65 bps to +10 bps.

The Banco Central do Brasil established a temporary U.S. dollar liquidity arrangement (swap lines) with the Federal Reserve for a maximum of $60 billion.

The Ministry of Economy released R $ 5 billion by the Income Generation Program (Proger), maintained with resources from the Workers' Support Fund (FAT). The amount will be passed on to public banks so that they grant loans aimed at working capital of micro and small companies.

The Banco Central do Brasil decreased the reserve requirement ratio on time deposits from 31% to 25%.

The Bank of Canada launched a program to purchase Government of Canada securities in the secondary market. This program is intended to address strains in the Government of Canada bond market and to enhance the effectiveness of other monetary policy actions taken so far.

The Canadian Government has launched a revised Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP).

Under this program, the government can purchase up to CA$150 billion of insured mortgage pools through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This action will provide stable funding to banks and mortgage lenders in order to ensure continued lending to Canadians.

At its initial launch the program on 16 March 2020, the program was designed to purchase CA$50 billion of insured mortgage pools. This was increased by CA$100 billion on 26 March 2020.

The Danmarks Nationalbank agreed to temporarily establish a bilateral swap line with the Federal Reserve to address the increased need for short-term liquidity in the US Dollar.

The bilateral swap agreement between the Federal Reserve and Danmarks Nationalbank amounts to US$30 billion and will be in place for at least six months. The new swap line has been agreed to improve the liquidity conditions in the global financial markets.

The Danmarks Nationalbank increased the domestic government bond issuance target for 2020 from kr. 75 billion to kr.125 billion, and advanced the opening of a new 30-year nominal bond to 1 April 2020.

The increase is intended to keep interest rates low and inject money into the Danish economy.

Two new T-bills will be added to the bond purchase programme on 30 March 2020, and the Danmarks Nationalbank has signalled outstanding T-bill amounts are expected to increase to accommodate a temporary increase in liquidity requirements.

The Government of India reduced or removed various bank fees.

Debit cardholders can withdraw cash for free from any other banks’ ATM for three months.

The minimum balance fee will be waived.

Bank charges for digital trade transactions for all trade finance consumers will be reduced.

Banks and financial institutions will not be charged or penalised for non-compliance with regulatory and supervisory requirements until April 15.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has begun a large scale asset purchase programme, commonly known as quantitative easing. The Reserve Bank will purchase up to NZ$30 billion worth of New Zealand government bonds over 12 months.

The programme is intended to keep interest rates low and inject money into the New Zealand economy.
Though the Reserve Bank is independent of the government, the Minister of Finance has signed a memorandum of understanding and a letter of indemnity with the Reserve Bank to enable the programme.

The State Bank of Pakistan reduced the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) from its existing level of 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent.

This measure is intended to support the banking sector to supply additional loans to businesses and households, and will enable banks to lend an additional amount of around Rs. 800 billion, an amount equivalent to about 10 percent of their current outstanding loans.

The reduced CCB level will remain applicable until further instructions by SBP.

The State Bank of Pakistan has relaxed the debt burden ratio for consumer loans from 50 percent to 60 precent.

The debt burden ratio refers to a person's capacity to bear the burden of debt, whcih limits their ability to borrow from banks.

This measure will allow about 2.3 million individuals to borrow more from banks.

The State Bank of Pakistan has relaxed the regulatory criteria for restructuring and rescheduling loans.

Loans re-scheduled or restructured within 180 days from the due date of payment will not be treated as defaults. Banks would also not be required to suspend the unrealized mark-up against such loans.

The timeline for classification of trade bills has also been extended from 180 days to 365 days.

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru Discount window rate change. For overnight deposits it is now 0.15% annually. For direct security/currency repo and rediscount operations, the rate is now 0.50% annually.

The The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) Delay implementation of law on "parallel" credit lines until January 1, 2021.

The The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) made various changes to rules applicable to investment management in the insurance sector.

The SBS temporarily increased (up to 10 business days) the individual limit of investment per counterparty in the case of financial institutions. The proportion of the fund applied to eligible investments issued or backed by the financial institution was increased from 7% to 9.5%. If the institution is a financial institution that has a risk rating of “A”, the limit is increased from 10% to 12.5%. If the institution loses its A rating, it has to send a letter to the SBS with a recovery plan for approval.

There is also a temporary increase (up to 10 business days) in "the limit corresponding to the sum of the eligible investments in deposits in current accounts in the same financial institution, applied to the support of its technical obligations" from 5% to 10%.

There is also a temporary suspension of accounting rules for writing down the impairment of financial instruments and exception of restrictions for accounting reclassifications and sales of instruments classified as matured.

Finally, there is a temporary suspension of the accounting update of the valuation of investments in real estate valued under the discounted cash flow (CDF) methodology. Does not apply to investments in real estate that a company sells or transfers (in whole or in part) during the term of this measure.

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru Decreased minimum current account requirement in soles from 1.0 to 0.75% of the institution's total obligations subject to reserve requirements

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru Additional reserve requirements on foreign currency denominated credits suspended for the rest of 2020.

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru Soles discount window facility interest rate changes. For overnight deposits, it is now 0.25% annually. For direct security/currency repo and rediscount operations, it is now 1.80% annually.

The Banco Central de Reserva del Peru Sale of S 400 million in one-year repos at 3.10%

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority deposited SAR 30 billion for banks and financing companies to delay the payment of dues to the financial sector from small to medium enterprises for six months as of its date.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore will provide up to US$60 billion of funding to banks in Singapore through a new USD facility. Auctions for these funds will be conducted every Monday.

The facility is intended to stabilise USD funding conditions in Singapore, and facilitate USD lending to businesses in Singapore. The measure is funded by the USD liquidity swap arrangement between the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the US Federal Reserve.

The Singapore Government will defer personal income tax for all self-employed persons. Self-employed persons will be granted an automatic three-month deferment of their personal income tax payments due in the months of May, June, and July 2020. These payments will instead be collected in August, September, and October 2020.

This measure was announced as part of the government’s Resilience Budget.

The South African Reserve Bank began proactively purchasing government bonds in the secondary market to ensure liquidity in the government bond market

The Government of South Africa issued guidance to reduce dividends and bonuses to ensure that banks use capital wisely.

The Korean government announced that it would purchase 20 trillion won (US$16 billion) in corporate bonds to prop up companies facing a credit crunch due to COVID-19.

The President of the Deposit Protection Agency, Mr. Songpol Chevapanyaroj, confirmed Cabinet approved a one-year extension of deposit protection guarantees, up to B5 million per person, due to the economic impact of COVID-19 and to provide confidence in Thailand’s banking system.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey revised the facility offered to primary dealer banks to sell Government Domestic Debt Securities (GDDS) to the central bank.

The limits offered to primary dealer banks for outright sales of GDDS to the CBRT will be applied independent of the repo transaction limits and bankswill be offered a GDDS selling limit that is equal to the repo transaction limits.

GDDS to be purchased and the amount of purchases will be determined by the CBRT. Purchases will be conducted via the quantity auction method.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey allowed primary dealers to sell the Government Domestic Debt Securities (GDDS) that they have bought from the Unemployment Insurance Fund to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) under the terms and limits set by the CBRT, or will be able to increase at certain ratios the liquidity facility offered under OMO in the scope of the Primary Dealership system.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey increased limits for targeted additional liquidity facilities offered to secure uninterrupted credit flow to the corporate sector.

Additional Turkish lira currency swap auctions with a maturity of six months will also be held.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey capped credit card interest rates.

1.25% for the Turkish lira. 1.00% for foreign exchange transactions.

Maximum interest rate for overdue balances on credit cards will be 1.55% for the Turkish lira. 1.30% for foreign exchange transactions.

The central bank will no longer announce maximum credit card interest rates quarterly. These rates will be in effect indefinitely.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey reduced FX reserve requirement ratios by 500 basis points in all liability types and all maturity brackets for banks that meet real credit growth conditions within the context of the reserve requirement practice.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey reduced the policy rate (one-week repo auction rate) from 10.75 percent to 9.75 percent.

The Federal Reserve established new credit facilities to support credit markets across the economy. To support large employers, the Federal Reserve established the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (PMCCF), for new bond and loan issuance, and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF), for liquidity for outstanding corporate bonds.

To support the flow of credit to households and businesses, the Federal Reserve established the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), for issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) backed by student loans, auto loans, credit card loans, and other loans.

To support municipalities, the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (MMLF) is being expanded to include a wider range of securities, and the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) is being expanded to include high-quality, tax-exempt commercial paper as eligible securities.

The Federal Reserve lowered the target range for the federal funds rate to between 0 and 0.25 percent on 15 March 2020.

The target range was previously between 1 and 1.25 percent, as of 3 March 2020. The federal funds rate is the interest rate set by the Federal Reserve for overnight lending to banks, and influences market interest rates generally.

The reduction in the federal funds rate is intended to keep market interest rates down and allow people and businesses to borrow money more cheaply.

The Government of Vietnam issue Directive 19, setting guidelines on measures to keep the country clear of COVID-19 while its economy restarts after strict social distancing measures.

The State Bank of Vietnam reduced the refinancing rate from 6 percent to 5 percent and reduced the rediscounting rate from 4 percent to 3.5 percent.

The overnight rate in the inter-bank electronic payments and the rate of loans to finance short balances in clearing transactions between the SBV and commercial banks is also lowered from 7 percent to 6 percent.

The State Bank of Vietnam capped the VND short-term lending rate charged by the credit institutions and the foreign bank branches to borrowers.

The rate is reduced from 6.0 percent per annum to 5.5 percent per annum.

For People’s Credit Funds and micro finance institutions the rate is reduced from 7.0 percent per annum to 6.5 percent per annum.

The State Bank of Vietnam imposed an interest rate of 1 percent per annum for deposits in VND at the Vietnam Development Bank, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, the People’s Credit Funds and micro finance institutions.