Additional amending budget due to the coronavirus

The Government and relevant public authorities are monitoring the ongoing virus outbreak very closely and are ready to quickly take measures to strengthen the response to the outbreak as well as its consequences. Ensuring that authorities and disease control officials have all the tools they need is not only crucial to fighting the disease, it is also essential to minimising its socioeconomic costs. The proposal for an additional amending budget contains proposals that cover four different areas.

Municipalities and regions will be compensated for extraordinary costs

Through the additional amending budget, an opportunity will now be created for the central government to retroactively compensate municipalities and regions for extraordinary measures and extra costs in health and medical care associated with the coronavirus. For example, this could mean higher staffing costs, higher costs to ensure staffing of 1177 Vårdguiden, laboratory analyses, extra consumption of supplies, contact tracing, etc.

Relevant government agencies will be strengthened

The Public Health Agency of Sweden will receive an additional SEK 41 million, primarily for staffing costs. The National Board of Health and Welfare will receive an additional SEK 20 million, primarily for staffing costs, training activities and supplies. The Swedish Medical Products Agency will receive an additional SEK 5 million for its efforts, together with the regions, to ensure the supply of medicines in Sweden. This additional sum corresponds to the Agency’s own estimate of what is currently needed. The National Board of Health and Welfare’s credit framework will be trebled from SEK 100 million to SEK 300 million to enable it to purchase protective equipment and testing kits.

Financial support to individuals

The qualifying day will be discontinued in that the central government will pay sickness benefit for the first day of sickness, and the appropriation for the disease carrier allowance will be increased. These measures are expected to reduce the spread of the disease and so the pressure on health care services.

Measures adopted to support companies affected financially

The proposal on short-time work, which is intended to avoid layoffs and give companies the opportunity to quickly get started again once the situation has changed, will be brought forward and it is proposed that it enter into force on 1 May 2020. It is also proposed that companies be given the opportunity to defer payment of employers’ social security contributions and employees’ preliminary tax for up to one year. The aim is for the deferment to apply for employers’ social security contributions and preliminary taxes for no more than two months.

There is great uncertainty concerning the present situation, and the situation could change rapidly. In addition to what is being presented today, a large number of other measures are also being considered that can quickly be taken if the need arises. The Government is in contact with the Riksdag so that measures that require a Riksdag decision can be adopted as soon as possible.