(Bloomberg) -- Sweden’s government plans to reintroduce support measures for companies whose business is hit by restrictions as the largest Nordic nation is seeing a new surge in Covid-19 infections.
Companies that lose more than 30% of revenue in December will be eligible for compensation of as much as 90% of their fixed costs, according to a statement on Friday. The government also plans to expand measures that allow firms to defer tax payments.
The support comes as the number of people with Covid-19 in Swedish hospitals is increasing, with the outbreak of the omicron variant adding concerns about another surge in the number of people who fall ill. Earlier this week, Sweden extended a vaccine-certificate requirement to include anyone arriving in the country, including those from neighboring Nordic countries who have previously been exempt.
Sweden’s finance minister Mikael Damberg mentioned restaurants and retail companies near the Norwegian border as companies that may be hit as the next wave of the pandemic is sweeping the Nordic region. The support measures, which are initially only intended for December, could cost as much as 500 million kronor ($55 million) a month, Damberg said at a news conference in Stockholm.
“When people see that transmission increases, we see a change in behavior,” the minister said. “If this needs to be extended for more months we are ready to do that.”
The new measures have bi-partisan support, based on an agreement between Damberg’s Social Democrats and their traditional arch-rivals in the opposition Moderate Party.