March 20 (SeeNews) - The government of Bosnia's Federation will provide some 1 billion marka ($548.4 million/511.3 million euro) to support the entity's economy suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, the Federation prime minister, Fadil Novalic, said.
"The government is establishing two security funds - one of 500 million marka aimed for stabilisation of the economy, as well as a guarantee fund of 400 million marka for affected companies," Novalic said on Thursday, according to a video file streamed on the YouTube channel of Federalna TV.
He also said that the entity's government-controlled banks can come up with some extra 50 to 100 million marka in support, as the funds will be made available exclusively to those companies that will not fire workers.
Novalic explained that the first fund is supposed to support the pension system and labour offices that would have to take care of employees made redundant by the crisis. He also said that financing for this fund will come mainly from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with 150 million euro, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as from the entity's budget.
Novalic said the banks operating in the Federation entity have decided on Thursday to freeze loan repayments by companies and individuals by at least three months, to help them cope with the economic impact of the outbreak.
On Tuesday, Bosnia's state-level government declared a state of emergency in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.
The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 in Bosnia rose to 69 on Friday, local media reported on Friday.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)