Self-employed persons have already received over €1 billion in replacement income amid the new coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, Minister of Independents Denis Ducarme announced on Tuesday.
Social insurance funds made 338,407 payments of replacement income for the month of March, to self-employed people affected by the coronavirus, according to figures from the National Social Insurance Institute for the Self-Employed (NISSE).
For April, 345,255 payments were made. These payments represent a total amount of €1.012 billion. In total, more than 96% of the payments have already been made, said Ducarme.
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"After this crisis, in addition to the effort that the State will have to make for recovery, it is thanks to our self-employed, our liberal professions, our SMEs and their employees that our economy and our country will be able to recover," Ducarme said.
"That is why it was important to ensure that replacement income was accessible to as many people as possible, but also to ensure that payments were made as quickly as possible once the conditions for access were met," he continued, adding that he was "grateful to the social insurance funds for taking the necessary steps to make these payments quickly despite the number of applications."
Self-employed people whose activity was interrupted or limited as part of the government's far-reaching measures to combat the spread of coronavirus have the right to a replacement income of €1,291.69 for March, April and May (or €1,614.10 in the event of family responsibilities).
The Brussels Times
