Press Release - Recommendations for Economic Relief
American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham) presents Recommendations for Economic Relief
With the aim of contributing to the economic stability, protecting jobs and ensuring the financial liquidity of business entities in the Republic of Croatia, AmCham has published a proposal for additional measures to help the economy in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic.
“We think that this situation warrants the introduction of measures for maintaining the liquidity of economic operators, protecting jobs, ensuring the entrepreneurial supply chain, stimulating post-crisis consumption and tax reliefs,” said Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of AmCham. She also added that AmCham’s measures were prepared in accordance with the measures adopted by the Croatian Government, as well as the good practices set by other countries.
To ensure liquidity, AmCham proposes, among other things, the establishment of government loans and guarantees by the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (worth ~ 10% of the GDP in line with the experience of other countries), the establishment of funds for those industrial sectors most affected by the crisis (e.g. tourism), securing funds for small and medium-sized enterprises with impaired liquidity through the approval of credit lines with the obligation for repayment within 2 years and an interest rate of 0% (following the example of the Czech Republic).
As for the proposed measures for job retention, they relate to the introduction of the model of shorter working hours, mandatory use of annual leave during the crisis, subsidizing wages for workers in the private sector (the model of Austria and Slovenia), and the write-off of income taxes and contributions during the COVID-19 crisis period.
“What is also extremely important is to ensure the free flow of goods, intermediate products and critical raw materials necessary for the manufacturing process in key strategic industries and exporters, as well as preventing shortages of raw materials, intermediate products, etc. for strategically significant enterprises”, said Doko Jelušić, adding that AmCham is already working on an additional proposal of measures that could mitigate the negative effects of the coronavirus on the economy and help entrepreneurs overcome the coming period more easily.
“Given the current circumstances and the disasters that hit Zagreb, AmCham further proposes that a Provision be made to exempt the supplies given free of charge to hospitals and scientific/educational institutions from value added tax, which would allow entrepreneurs to more readily decide on donations of equipment to hospitals and scientific/educational institutions, and contribute to reconstruction and assistance during this crisis period,” concluded Andrea Doko Jelušić.