Hamburg's protective shield to be expanded

The main focus is on Hamburg Corona Emergency Aid (HCS), which uses direct grants and supplements the immediate aid agreed by the German government., which is now ready for release. Guidelines on funding and the contents of the application form have been finalised and co-ordinated with the federal funding. *Those preparing digital applications could call up the funding guidelines and the contents of the application form on Friday on www.ifbhh.de. The grants provided by Hamburg are in addition to those of the German government limited to 10 employees (in full-time equivalents):

Hamburg
German government
Total of up to for
Solo self-employed
€2,500
€9,000
€11,500
1-5 employees
€5,000
€9,000
€14,000
6-10 employees
€5,000
€15,000
€20,000
11-50 employees
€25,000
—————-
€25,000
51-250 employees
€30,000
—————-
€30,000

Dr. Andreas Dressel, Senator for Finance, noted: “Hamburg will likely add well over EUR 300 million to supplement federal funding and help all those affected. We will support not only addressees of the general ruling, but all tradesmen, companies and solo self-employed people who suffered a slump in sales after March 11, 2020 as a result of corona. Non-profit enterprises are also covered.” The application procedure will be digital from early Monday (March 30, 2020) and will be as unbureaucratic as possible.

Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics, Transport and Innovation, pointed out: “SMEs in our city have our full support in this crisis. We have significantly increased the funding. As the German government is focusing particularly on very small companies, we have more than doubled the funding for larger companies with eleven or more employees from EUR 10,000 to EUR 25,000 and increased the funding for companies with 51 to 250 employees to EUR 30,000. The senate is making a clear commitment to mid-sized companies in these difficult times. Together with IFB, we now have an unbureaucratic application procedure that starts on Monday. We will provide the best possible information prior to hopefully, successful applications via our comprehensive internet information and a hotline.” Dr. Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, added: “A diverse, vibrant cultural and creative scene is crucial to the quality of life in Hamburg and its innovative strength. We are ensuring that creative people and artists get through this period as best as possible with Hamburg’s protective shield.”

The focus is on a significant expansion of IFB’s lending. The HamburgKredit-Liquidität (HKL), provides SMEs with a loan volume of up to EUR 250,000 each. For cultural institutions (IFB-Förderkredit Kultur) and sports clubs including those with a separately organised professional sector and organisers of sports events (IFB-Förderkredit Sport), IFB will provide a new support module for urgently needed operating funds. As a rule, the loans will likely come to EUR 150,000 each. The EUR 400 million, pending authorized guarantees, will be divided as follows:

Hamburg Kredit Liquidität (HKL): EUR 300 million
IFB-Förderkredit Kultur (Corona Module): EUR 50 million
IFB-Förderkredit Sport (Corona Module): EUR 50 million

Dressel noted: “The almost doubled loan authorisation for our development bank, IFB, shows that we clearly support the close alliance between the city and the financial sector in a very practical way. The liquidity loan will be particularly interesting for the somewhat larger companies in the SME sector. Due to the urgent needs in the sport and culture sectors, we want to be ready to start the two funding modules for these sectors as soon as possible.”
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