Coronavirus: Marine Le Pen requests 10 billion euros for VSEs and SMEs - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The president of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, asks to go further in support of companies with less than 1,000 employees, by proposing that the Banque de France distribute "immediately 10 billion euros" to them, in the face of the crisis caused by coronavirus.

"For our PME-TPE, our craftsmen, traders, farmers and autoentrepreneurs, it is an automatic and immediate provision of equity through their bank account, resulting in an instant cash injection, according to their actual funding needs during the foreseeable pandemic period, "she said in a statement.

Ms. Le Pen recommends "that the Banque de France implement this system within ten days".

"In concrete terms, the Banque de France will send 1,000 euros per employee (and company manager, for autoentrepreneurs) to the accounts of the company in question. This sum would be recorded as equity on an accounting plan", suggests the patroness of RN .

She underlines "the efforts, certainly late but nevertheless substantial, engaged" both at French and European levels.

In France, the government has announced a reduction, postponement or cancellation of charges of up to 32 billion euros in March alone. What constitutes the main part of the 45 billion euros of "immediate" mobilization.

Paris has also widely opened the partial unemployment scheme and set up a solidarity fund with around 2 billion euros. Small businesses, very small businesses (VSEs) and micro-entrepreneurs in difficulty will benefit from a suspension of payment of their water, gas, electricity and rent bills.

For its part, the European Central Bank (ECB) put on the table Wednesday 750 billion additional euros, intended for repurchases of public and private debt to try to contain the repercussions on the economy of the pandemic.

But in the eyes of Ms. Le Pen, these measures "nevertheless have a major drawback: they primarily benefit states, large companies and the banking system". It calls for "a device for directly strengthening the equity of European companies with less than 1,000 employees".

© 2020 AFP