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Zurich CFO Ernst Stocker (65, Senior Vice President) is sounding the alarm: “The crown relief funds decided so far will never be enough,” he stressed to the media on Thursday. This is what previous requests for hardship payments indicated.
For Stocker it is clear: the five billion of the federal government should definitely be increased: “The number will have to at least double!” He also made this clear to the finance minister and party colleague, Ueli Maurer (70). And the federal government is probably aware of this too.
“It makes me feel uncomfortable”
The situation is similar in the canton of Zurich, where the cantonal council expanded the poverty program to a total of 456 million francs at the end of January. “I say it in German and of course: that will never be enough!” Stocker emphasized repeatedly. The treasury manager Basilius Scheidegger tried to tie his boss a bit: you have to wait for the first expectations.
Stocker, a SVP government councilor, was not deterred by this. When he sees the closed shops in town, “it makes me uncomfortable.” Because the canton has to make up for everything. But this is useless without the help of the federal government.
In the first round, more than 800 applications were submitted for the Corona hardship program in the canton of Zurich. Most of these requests are for non-refundable contributions. The sum of the requested non-reimbursable contributions is 104 million Swiss francs. In addition, loans totaling 48 million francs had been requested. So a total of more than 150 million francs.
It’s just the tip of the iceberg
Applicant companies had to demonstrate a pandemic-related loss of 50 percent of sales. Requests came primarily from the hospitality and catering industries, as well as the travel, transportation and events industries.
But Stocker and Scheidegger assume this is just the tip of the iceberg. For the second round, which begins in the next few days, they expect up to 20,000 more applications, also because the requirements are now softer. Instead of 50 percent, there is now only a 40 percent loss in sales in 2020 compared to the previous year. Businesses that were officially closed for at least 40 days are also considered hardship cases.
“The phones are heating up in the finance department,” said government adviser Stocker. It is a huge challenge to examine all these requests as quickly as possible. Also, not all required documents are always complete, added CFO Scheidegger. This could lead to delays in some cases: “We still have a responsibility to the taxpayer.”
The “basic income” of cultural workers is controversial
Stocker also commented on the idea of a “basic income” for cultural workers, which his colleague from the SP government, Jacqueline Fehr (57), launched in the “Tages-Anzeiger”. Fehr wants to pay cultural workers affected by the Corona crisis up to 3,840 francs a month.
According to Stocker, it should also be possible to receive money from the federal government for support measures in the cultural sector. To do this, you must meet their criteria. However, the Federal Office for Culture does not consider that these conditions are met by Fehr’s proposal.
