translated from Spanish: President Piñera announced universal IFE “equivalent to the poverty line” and bonus for SMEs

President Sebastián Piñera made an announcement on Wednesday night about new financial support for families amid the pandemic, within the framework of the so-called “common minimums” agreement. On the occasion the representative stated that “we heard the proposals of the opposition and Chile Vamos”, and on this basis, he announced two projects that will be entered for discussion in Congress.First he announced that a new Emergency Family Income will be delivered, which will be universal and benefit 100% of the families who are enrolled in the Social Register of Households. The initiative will be equivalent to the poverty line, he said. That is, a household composed of one person will receive 177 thousand pesos; following this formula, if the household is four people will correspond to 467 thousand pesos, and for example, if it is ten members, about 900 thousand pesos will be paid.” They mean that no family is going to fall under the poverty line,” Piñera said, adding that it will be paid for during June, July and August. SMEs On the other hand, Piñera added a second benefit that considers SMEs. It is about delivering a 1 million peso bonus to merchants with sales below 25 UF per year. On the other hand, it stated that “SMEs with workers suspended under the Employment Protection Act, which correspond to those most hit by the pandemic and recession, will receive a special subsidy to pay the planned contributions of suspended workers, for a period of four months, thus protecting access to the health and pensions of these workers”. In the case of women in this situation, all these bonuses will be allocated to them, but with an additional 20%. If SMEs have planned debts they will also receive “this relief bond,” Piñera added, without 30% of the amount to pay the contributions, “and the rest will be free for working capital.” In doing so, he concluded by stating that “additionally, we will implement a set of tax relief measures for the most affected SMEs, such as the repayment of the VAT tax credit and the transitional elimination of the criminal interest rate”.

Original source in Spanish