Bulgaria plans $2.5 bln package to support businesses, jobs

Bulgaria will introduce a package of measures worth 4.5 billion levs ($2.48 billion) to support businesses and jobs hit by the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Tuesday.

The measures include increasing the capital of the state-run Bulgarian Development Bank to support businesses, paying 60% of the salaries of workers that companies would otherwise fire, delay payments of annual corporate tax until the end of June and offer interest-free loans to workers put on leave.

"Our aim is to save the life of the elderly and ensure work for the young," Borissov said. ($1 = 1.8144 leva)