RIGA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- As the Latvian government prepares to lift the coronavirus-triggered state of emergency, new measures are being planned to support the businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state of emergency is due to end in Latvia on June 30, and after that the government plans to subsidize jobs in certain enterprises, as well as offer a major retraining program for people who will have lost their jobs irreversibly due to the crisis, Finance Minister Janis Reirs said at a news conference on Thursday.
The Finance Ministry has drafted a new bill enabling the government to continue providing support to crisis-stricken businesses and individuals until the end of this year. Meanwhile, special benefits that are being paid to the employees of companies that have been forced to suspend their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be scrapped after June 30.
The benefits currently paid to idled workers will be replaced by other support instruments, such as wage subsidies to high value-added enterprises, the minister said without elaborating on this plan.
Another support instrument would involve a "major retraining program" for those employees who will not be rehired after June 30. The retraining program will be implemented in collaboration with Latvia's universities and colleges, with tuition grants also being considered for participants in these programs. Enditem
