April 6 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's Federation will set up a guarantee fund of 400 million marka ($220.6 million/ 204.5 million euro) to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in coping with the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the entity government said
The establishment of a guarantee fund for maintaining SME's liquidity is part of a draft law prepared by the Federation government with the aim of stabilising the economy during the COVID-19 crisis, it said in a press release on Friday.
The guarantee fund will be established through the entity's Development Bank, for which the Federation government will provide a deposit of 80 million marka.
The Federation government said it gives priority to saving jobs, as it will pay from its budget minimum salaries to all workers in the real sector, with employees in the public and finance sectors to be excluded from this support measure.
"Companies will not pay profit tax and craftsmen will pay no income tax. Interest payments on public revenues and debts in the economy are annulled. All administrative and judicial proceedings are suspended until the state of emergency is in force and 90 days after that," Federation prime minister Fadil Novalic said in the press release.
The draft law also guarantees payment of pensions and social aids.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bosnia rose to 675 as of Monday, including 26 fatalities, according to official data.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)