Covid-19, Financial Services, Good for Business, Investments, Lithuania, Tourism

"It is proposed to provide a total of 45 million euros: 31 million euros for measures to maintain business liquidity and 14 million euros for economic stimulus measures," Finance Minister Vilius Sapoka told the Cabinet.  

The funds are part of the government's updated Economic Stimulus and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mitigation Action Plan that was released in early May. 

Some 31 million euros will go toward measures to support the liquidity of tourism companies, such as interest-free loans to refund travelers who have refused to accept vouchers, and compensation for the costs of repatriating tourists from abroad after Lithuania declared a state of emergency. 

Another 14 million euros will be used to help kick-start tourism activities when the epidemic is over, to provide travel vouchers to medical workers, and other measures. 

Tourism, along with transport, is one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. The global tourism industry is forecast to shrink by 70-80% because of the pandemic.