March 31 (SeeNews) - The number of unemployed people in Bulgaria registered since a countrywide state of emergency was declared on March 13 over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has reached 9,909, labour minister Daniela Sacheva said.
As of March 27, there were 213,700 people registered with labour offices in the country, Sacheva said in a video file posted on the Facebook profile of Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov on Monday.
Starting March 31, businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis can apply for state financing of 60% of the insurable earnings of their employees. They can expect a decision within seven days since their application and if approved for state financing, they can receive the respective sum within five days, the labour minister announced.
The government cannot finance labour costs, as they are different in every company and depend on a lot of factors, Sacheva explained.
According to the so-called '60-40 measure', the state will finance 60% of the insurable income of employees only if the employer contributes the remaining 40%. Borissov said last week that the government will allocate around 1 billion levs ($555 million/511 million euro) to paying out its share of this employment support measure.
Startups will not receive state financing under the 60-40 scheme but at the moment the government is working on different instruments through the Fund on Funds to support the operations of starting companies during the crisis, the labour minister said.
Only companies the worst affected sectors will be able to benefit from state financing under the 60-40 scheme, as well as companies which can prove that their sales revenue has dropped by 20% year-on-year in March, Sacheva noted.
The measure will be in force for three months, finance minister Vladislav Goranov said in the video file, adding that if the crisis deepens the government will discuss additional measures to cope with the situation.
Eligible companies can opt for using the 60-40 scheme for part of their employees, or not use it at all, Goranov said.
Sacheva said last week that the state is ready to support the unemployed with compensations through the EU's operational programme Human Resources Development 2014-2020.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bulgaria has increased to 379 as of Tuesday. Bulgaria has reported eight coronavirus deaths as well as 15 recoveries thus far.