Covid-19, Crisis, Financial Services, Good for Business, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Taxation

The regulation would serve as a government support instrument, helping affected businesses to survive the Covid-19 crisis. The idling regulation would apply to companies that have seen their revenue shrink or disappear altogether due to the coronavirus pandemic and that can no longer pay wages to their employees. 

Experts are still discussing details of the regulation, the prime minister said. Asked if it could include tax exemptions for the time a company has not been generating any revenue, Karins said that various options are being considered. 

Agriculture Minister Kaspars Gerhards (National Alliance) said that the idling regulation would serve as an instrument for the hardest entrepreneurs, allowing them to pay wages to their employees and resume operations when the crisis is over. 

Gerhards also called on the government to restore previous unemployment benefit rules which allowed jobless people to receive the benefits for a longer period of time. 

Karins said that the government will decide on the first support package to businesses on Tuesday. This package includes measures like Altum guarantee programs, including bank loan guarantees and export guarantees, longer tax holidays, financing sick leaves, etc.