Further information (in German) on the legal basis of the Economic Stabilisation Fund, access criteria, the application procedure, press releases and contact details can be found here.
The purpose of the Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) is to stabilise the economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The ESF provides support in the form of stabilisation measures totalling €600 billion to help undertakings from all sectors to strengthen their capital base and tackle liquidity shortages. It is targeted at undertakings from the real economy whose demise would have a significant impact on the German labour market or on Germany’s attractiveness as a business location.
The ESF comprises two stabilisation tools (which may be applied in combination):
- Federal guarantees on loans, including credit lines, and capital market products (borrowed capital).
- Recapitalisation measures as a direct means of strengthening equity.
Standardised conditions apply under the ESF for guarantees for bank loans, guarantees for corporate bonds and for recapitalisation measures of up to €100 million. You can find further information under the following links:
- “Guarantee for bank loans“ (PDF, 758 KB)
- “Guarantee for corporate bonds” (PDF, 708 KB)
- „Silent partnership of up to €100 million“ (PDF, 715 KB)
Other cases may require individual structuring measures within the framework of the provisions of the Stabilisation Fund Act and the implementing ordinance on the Economic Stabilisation Fund Act.
Besides serving as a contact point for undertakings, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is in charge of reviewing the applications. Decisions on the provision of stabilisation measures are taken by different entities according to the volume of support requested:
- Decisions on guarantees of up to €100 million are made by KfW.
- Decisions on guarantees of €100 to €500 million and recapitalisations of up to €200 million are made by mutual agreement by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Finance.
- Guarantees exceeding €500 million and recapitalisations exceeding €200 million are submitted to the WSF interministerial committee.
Bundesrepublik Deutschland Finanzagentur GmbH (Federal Republic of Germany Finance Agency), the agency in charge of administering the ESF, publishes all approved ESF stabilisation measures at regular, usually weekly intervals. Click here for reference: www.deutsche-finanzagentur.de/de/wirtschafts-stabilisierung/. The agency records all WSF support measures that have been agreed by contract with the undertakings concerned.