[ad_1]
The Council of the European Union also approved Hungary’s loan application of € 504 million (converted into HUF 180 billion) submitted under the Workplace Protection Program (SURE). With this, Hungary is also among the 16 EU member states whose application has been accepted, the Finance Ministry (PM) told the MTI on Saturday.
The capital necessary for the operation of the temporary emergency aid plan will be provided through the issuance of bonds by the European Union. As a first step, the European Commission issued 17 billion euros in bonds on October 20, which attracted a lot of interest. About half of the total borrowing needs of the affected Member States, including Hungary, is expected to be received in 2020, with the remaining amount to be disbursed in early 2021.
According to the Ministry, SURE’s soft loan will be used to refinance the costs of occupational health and safety measures introduced after February 1, 2020. They recall that the government has helped workers in need in many ways due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic: thanks to the measures taken so far, 900,000 have received employment or training support.
The Council’s decision means that the European Commission will soon conclude a loan agreement with Hungary and the other affected Member States.
[ad_2]
