The Emergency Measures Monitoring and Evaluation Committee analyzed the amounts and destinations of the aid paid between March and September.
The support measures put in place by the government during the crisis have “mainly” benefited small and medium-sized enterprises between March and September 2020, said Tuesday the president of the Committee for monitoring and evaluation of emergency measures, Benoît Coeuré. , following the publication of a study.
During the first phase of the crisis linked to Covid-19, “companies with less than 250 employees represent more than 80% of companies assisted. And also more than 80% of the total amount of aid, for all devices, including the loan guaranteed by the State “, explained Benoît Coeuré, during an online press conference.
“It immediately twists the neck to an idea that we sometimes see, which is that aid mainly benefits large companies. This is not true,” he said.
Thus, very small businesses (TPE) represent 50% of the amount of deferred social contributions and a little less than 32% of the volume of loans guaranteed by the State, details a report from France Stratégie and the General Inspectorate of Finance.
161 billion euros paid between March and September
To help businesses get through the health crisis, the government has put in place four main measures: state guaranteed loans (PGE), charge deferrals, partial unemployment and solidarity fund for very small businesses.
“There is a form of specialization of aid by size of company: the deferral of charges for very small businesses, the solidarity fund for SMEs and the PGE for medium or large-sized companies,” observed Mr. Coeuré. “But overall, all the devices mainly benefit companies that are small or medium,” he insisted.
More generally, at the end of September 2020, some 3.7 million companies had benefited from at least one of the four main support measures, for a total amount of nearly 161 billion euros, further notes the study.
“At the macroeconomic level, we have the feeling that the aid has been sufficient to keep SMEs afloat”, estimated the chairman of the Monitoring Committee, even if this “undoubtedly hides effects by sector and by geographical area”.
On “whatever the cost”, that is to say the mobilization of all the necessary means in the face of the health crisis, Benoit Coeuré considered that “it is absolutely normal (…) that he be maintained as long as companies cannot function normally for reasons which are completely beyond their control “.
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