Five billion paid in cash grants to companies

The government has paid out just over 5 billion NOk to corona-affected companies. It is significantly less than expected. 

-”That payments through the plan have become significantly smaller than what was first assumed, is probably mainly due to the fact that activity has picked up faster than feared in March.”, writes the Minister of Finance, Jan Tore Sanner (H), in a letter to the Storting.

The deadline for applying for grants for the months of June, July and August is the 31st of October. 

Sanner emphasized that the government has announced that the comprehensive support schemes will have to be “stepped down in the time to come”. 

-”As the subsidy plan is based on a fall in turnover, it can contribute to weakening incentives for restructuring and thereby reducing the opportunities for increased activity.”, Sanner wrote.

-”The incentive effect becomes more serious the longer the compensation plans last.”

When the plan was launched, the government assumed that it would cost an estimated 50 billion NOK. The estimate has now been significantly reduced. 

The figures show that 1.7 billion was paid out for March, 2 billion for April, 1.3 billion for May, 168 million for June, and 58 million for July. 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today