By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
MADRID, March 11 (Reuters) - The Spanish government’s direct aid to small and medium-sized companies, to be approved by the cabinet on Friday, will likely total 7 billion euros ($8.4 billion), up from a previously-proposed 5 billion, a government source told Reuters.
The total aid package worth 11 billion euros will also include 3 billion euros to be implemented through voluntary debt restructurings of state-backed loans granted by banks to companies hit by the coronavirus, the source said on Thursday.
The remaining 1 billion will come in the form of capital injections. ($1 = 0.8362 euros) (Reporting by Belen Carreno, writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Nathan Allen)
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
BRUSSELS, March 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had authorised a loan of 351 million euros ($419 million) from the Finnish government to airline Finnair as compensation for losses suffered during the pandemic.
The airline, similar to other competitors, incurred significant operating losses due to travel restrictions in Finland and destination countries, the Commission said.
“With the measure we approved today, Finland will compensate Finnair for damages directly suffered as a result of such restrictions,” EU antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
The state aid, in the form of a hybrid loan, will cover losses for the period between 16 March 2020 and 31 December 2020, the Commission said. ($1 = 0.8377 euros) (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
Euro zone finance ministers will pledge on Monday to keep supporting the economy with public money in 2021 and 2022 as the common currency area emerges from the depths of the coronavirus crisis, a draft statement seen by Reuters showed.
The British public's expectations for inflation over the next 12 months held at their lowest level in more than four years, in sharp contrast to a recent rise in market expectations, Bank of England data showed on Friday.
Irish consumers will not need government incentives to spend record levels of savings once the economy reopens, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told Reuters on Friday, as he hopes for "signs" of a rebound in economic growth in the third quarter.