Put Leonardo Neri and Barbara Oliveira  – 27/03/2020

After facing pressure from business owners who have been suffering the economic consequences of the quarantine, the federal government announced this Friday, March 27, the provision of R$40 billion to provide emergency credit for the payment of salaries of employees of small and medium-sized companies for a period of two months.

The measure announced by the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, and the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, aims to promote an increase in social isolation advised during the quarantine period, in order to reduce the transmission of the new coronavirus, in addition to reducing the impacts already caused in the consumption chain.

It is important to note that the credit offered will be limited to two minimum wages per employee. In other words, for employees who receive a higher salary, the company will be responsible for supplementing the payment. The benefit will allow companies to gain some breathing space to face the drastic reduction in revenue during the period in which they are closed or operating at reduced rates due to the quarantine, thus avoiding delays in payroll, as well as possible layoffs and bankruptcies.

The requirements for the company to be entitled to credit are:

• Annual revenue between R$360 thousand and R$10 million;
• Use of credit exclusively for payment of salaries;
• Impossibility of dismissing employees for the period of the benefit (two months).

The credit will be deposited directly into the employee's account, linked to their CPF, preventing fraud and ensuring that the credit is used for its real purpose.

Regarding the payment of the debt, a grace period of 6 (six) months will be granted for payment. After this period, the company will have up to 36 (thirty-six) months to pay off the credit acquired, with an interest rate of 3.75% per year.

The president of the Central Bank guarantees that the amount made available will be enough to benefit 1.4 million small and medium-sized companies, which, according to him, corresponds to all companies with revenues between R$360 thousand and R$10 million.

To make the measure viable, the federal government is counting on the participation of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), with the use of resources from the National Treasury, which will correspond to 85% of the credit granted, and other private banks, which will subsidize 15% of the credit, in addition to being responsible for signing contracts with companies and making transfers to workers' accounts.

Information on the means of contracting the emergency credit line has not yet been made available, however, the expectation is that the means for adhesion will be available within two weeks.

Interestingly, the measure does not cover micro-enterprises, that is, those with revenues equal to or less than R$360,000. When questioned, Roberto Campos Neto said that measures are being studied in this regard.