A few weeks ago it looked like it wouldn't be needed much longer.

But in view of the renewed restrictions on the economy in the wake of the corona pandemic, the traffic light coalition is launching the extension of the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) as one of its first official acts.

This Thursday, the Bundestag held a first reading on a draft law by the SPD, Greens and FDP, according to which the WSF should be extended by six months until the end of June.

At the same time, however, its volume is supposed to decrease, since it was not nearly exhausted in the past.

Applications can be submitted until the end of April.

Julia Löhr

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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One of the pillars of the WSF are guarantees that are designed to make it easier for companies to take out loans. So far, 400 billion euros have been available for this, in the future it should be 100 billion euros. The second - and much more frequently used - pillar are recapitalizations, which are intended to strengthen the company's equity base. Up to 100 billion euros are still earmarked for this, but so far only 8.8 billion euros have been used. In future, the upper limit should be 50 billion euros. Nothing should change in KfW's special corona programs, for which the fund can spend up to 100 billion euros.

The most prominent company that asked the WSF for help in the wake of the Corona crisis is Deutsche Lufthansa. The rescue package agreed in May 2020 comprised 9 billion euros, but the airline did not call up all of it. The company recently repaid the two silent participations worth a total of 2.5 billion euros and terminated the unused part of the aid. What remains is the block of shares, with the federal government holding a good 14 percent of Lufthansa shares. This stake is to be sold by October 2023. If Lufthansa needs help from the WSF again in the fourth or fifth corona wave, it would have to apply for it again.

The department store group Galeria has already asked for further support. It is about a supplementary loan, said CFO Guido Mager on Tuesday the FAZ. Up to 220 million euros is the talk. In view of the new 2-G rule in retail - access only for vaccinated or convalescent people - the department store group expects sales to decline by 40 percent in December. Galeria already has a loan of 460 million euros from the WSF, which runs until 2026. In total, the fund has so far agreed 25 stabilization measures for 21 companies, 16 of them medium-sized companies with annual sales of up to 500 million euros.

According to the will of the FDP, the current extension of the WSF should be the last if possible.

“We cannot make these aid systems permanent,” said the FDP budget politician Otto Fricke.

The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP would have to find a way out.

He considers it sufficient until the end of June 2022.

"From then on there will be no more new resolutions," said Fricke.

However, the momentum of the pandemic has overtaken many political announcements in recent months.

If there are further restrictions on the economy due to new virus variants in the middle of next year, a renewed extension of the aid programs should quickly be on the political agenda again.