Luxembourg | ADB COVID-19 Policy Database

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Data updated as of 15 Nov 2021

Sum of Measures 1—5 (Total Package)

Total Package in USD Million: 18,435.62

% of GDP (2020): 25.98%

% of Regional Total Package: N/A

Package Per Capita in USD: 29,739.90

Note: Measures 9 and 10 are added to the sum of Measures 1-5.

Measure	Amount (Local)	Amount (USD)	Details
01 - Liquidity Support
01A - Short-term lending			No amount/estimate: 20 May 2020, The government will grant financial aid up to EUR500,000 in the form of a repayable advance to cover documented loss of income.
01B - Support policies for short-term lending			No amount/estimate: In line with the European Central Bank's (ECB) recommendation on dividend distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic, banks were advised to refrain from distributing accumulated profits should this constrains their capacity to meet their clients’ credit and liquidity needs.
01C - Forex operations
02 - Credit creation	EUR6,100,000,000	USD6,747,787,611
02A - Financial sector lending/funding
02B - Support policies for long-term lending
02B1 - Interest rate adjustments
02B2 - Other policies to support long-term lending			No amount/estimate: (i) The Luxembourg authorities have intensified off-site oversight of key risks in the banking sector and stepped up surveillance of investment funds, including new requirements for weekly updates on financial data and fund managers’ governance arrangements. They have introduced a draft law which, among others, grants the supervisory bodies powers to extend, for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, reporting deadlines for entities under their remit; (ii) Banks were advised to refrain from distributing accumulated profits should this constrain their capacity to meet their clients’ credit and liquidity needs.
02C - Loan guarantees	EUR6,100,000,000	USD6,747,787,611	(i) 25 March 2020: EUR2.5 billion (3.9% of 2019 GDP) loan guarantee facility of the State of 85% of credit lines granted by selected banks between 18 March and 31 December 2020; (ii) No amount/estimate: Export guarantees provided by the Office du Ducroire; (iii) No amount/estimate: Companies with cash flow difficulties can request guarantees from the “mutualités de cautionnement”; (iv) 30 April 2020, EUR3.6 billion from extending credit guarantees for new bank loans and special anti-crisis financing for SMEs and large companies.
03 - Direct long-term lending	EUR1,000,000,000	USD1,106,194,690
03A - Long-term lending	EUR1,000,000,000	USD1,106,194,690	(i) EUR700 million new loan facility by Societe Nationale de Credit et d'Investissement (SNCI, a public bank) in collaboration with commercial banks, with maximum duration of 5 years; (ii) 25 March 2020, EUR300 million for repayable advances to companies, as well as liberal professions, to cover operating costs (repayment will begin 12 months after obtaining the repayable advance).
03B - Forbearance			No amount/estimate: (i) The SNCI has announced the relaxation of repayment conditions for existing loans granted by it, suspending principal repayments for direct and indirect loans at the March 31 and June 30 maturities. The duration of all these financings will be automatically extended by 6 months; (ii) April, Commitment by Luxembourg banks to offer a 6-month moratorium on loans for SMEs, self-employed and liberal professionals.
04 - Equity support
05 - Health and income support	EUR9,565,800,000	USD10,581,637,168
05A - Health support	EUR264,000,000	USD292,035,398	(i) Additional expenditures in the context of health and crisis management, notably for the procurement of medical equipment and infrastructure (up to EUR194 million). These are part of the EUR1.45 billion fiscal package from March 2020, and deducted from Measure 5B3; (ii) 22 January 2021, EUR70 million for the "Large Scale Testing - Phase 2" project, managed by the Ministry of Health, covering expenses related to this project for the acquisition of test equipment for analyses.
05B - Income support	EUR9,301,800,000	USD10,289,601,770
05B1 - Tax and contribution deferrals and policy changes	EUR4,550,000,000	USD5,033,185,841	Part of the fiscal package adopted by the Parliament: Postponing tax and social-security contribution payments for the first two quarters of the year (EUR4.55 billion)
05B2 - Tax and contribution rates reduction
05B3 - Subsidies to individuals and households	EUR2,883,000,000	USD3,189,159,292	(i) 25 March 2020, as part of the fiscal package adopted by the Parliament: (a) EUR400 million coverage of employees’ leave for family reasons, (b) EUR1 billion paying partial-unemployment benefits and other expenditures; (ii) 30 April 2020, EUR2.257 billion fiscal package has been partly adopted by the Parliament. Key spending measures include: (a) EUR332 million to cover employees’ leave for family reasons and sick leave and (b) EUR1 billion for paying partial-unemployment benefits; (iii) No amount/estimate: 9 July 2020, the government announced a series of measures to fight unemployment by providing support for unemployed people of advanced age and incentives for businesses to further educate young workers, and making professional training programs more accessible to young workers; (iv) 22 January 2021, EUR70 million to co-finance the partial unemployment scheme in Luxembourg. The State pays during the compensation allowance which corresponds to 80% of the salary of the employee concerned, or even 100% for the social minimum wage.
05B4 - Subsidies to businesses	EUR820,000,000	USD907,079,646	(i) As part of the EUR1.45 billion fiscal package: EUR50 million providing non-repayable financial aid to micro enterprises; (ii) As part of the EUR2.257 billion fiscal package: (a) EUR400 million to grant capital advances to cover companies’ operating costs; (b) EUR250 million for providing non-repayable financial aid to micro enterprises; (c) No amount/estimate: 22 July 2020, Approved a new aid instrument to cover up to 50% of investments in companies suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis; (ii) 13 November 2020, EUR120 million in capital grants to cover fixed costs and extended flat-rate financial aid for affected sectors (tourism, events, culture and entertainment) through March 2021. Several existing aid schemes (available to all sectors) have been extended through Q2 2021, including partial unemployment benefits, credit guarantees and capital advances; (iii) No amount/estimate: 12 February 2021, business can receive aid to compensate fixed costs up to 25% of their monthly turnover. This measure will be effective until June 2021. As of 7 April 2021, this measure is extended until end-2021, and the maximum potential funding available per company is increased from EUR800,000 to EUR1.8 million; (iv) No amount/estimate: 2 March 2021, companies can apply for partial unemployment benefits from 1 April to 30 June 2021. For April, the total number of reimbursable hours will be unlimited, but will be reduced to 50% during May and June.
05B5 - Indirect income support	EUR108,800,000	USD120,353,982	(i) As of 18 June 2021, EUR0.1 billion of the NextGeneration EU was allocated to Recovery and Resilience Facility. 3 August 2021, The European Commission disbursed EUR12.1 million in pre-financing.; (ii) As of 25 July 2021, EUR8.8 million of the NextGenerationEU was allocated to European Agriculutural Fund for Rural Development.
05B6 - No breakdown (income support)	EUR940,000,000	USD1,039,823,009	(i) EUR800 million estimated as total cost of the following measures: (a) cash grants to companies in heavily affected sectors that still do not have authorization to reopen, (b) lump-sum stimulus for SMEs in retail trade, (c) doubling the cost-of-living-allowance and introducing a family-support leave, and (d) investment aid for development, process/organizational innovation, or energy efficiency projects; (ii) As of 25 July 2021, EUR140 million of the NextGenerationEU was allocated to Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU).
05C - No breakdown (health and income support)
06 - Budget reallocation
07 - Central bank financing government
07A - Direct lending and reserve drawdown
07B - Secondary purchase: government securities
08 - International Assistance Received	EUR248,800,000	USD275,221,239
08A - Swaps
08B - International loans/grants	EUR248,800,000	USD275,221,239
08B1 - Asian Development Bank
08B2 - Other	EUR248,800,000	USD275,221,239	As of 25 July 2021, All the funding of the NextGenerationEU allocated to (i) Recovery and Resilience Facility, (ii) European Agriculutural Fund for Rural Development, and (iii) Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) is worth EUR248.8 million. The total amount allocated to the four programs (out of seven) under NextGenerationEU is still unaccounted for. 3 August 2021, The European Commission disbursed EUR12.1 million in pre-financing of Recovery and Resilience Facility.
09 - International Assistance Provided
09A - Swaps
09B - International loans/grants
10 - No breakdown
11 - Other Economic Measures			(i) Temporary suspension of refunds for cancelled package holidays in support of travel agents; (ii) Commitment by Luxembourg banks to offer a 6-month moratorium on loans for SMEs, self-employed and liberal professionals; (iii) The Luxembourg authorities issued guidance on COVID19-related financial crime and AML/CT issues; (iv) To finance measures, the government issued a EUR2.5 billion bond (3.9% of 2019 GDP) at a negative interest rate; (v) Bilateral agreements with France and Belgium regarding the taxation of cross-border workers resorting to telework in the context of the current crisis; (vi) 6 September 2020, Job training for jobseekers with some secondary education. The program lasts three months and is focused on the development of soft skills, digital skills, project management skills, and optional training in office automation or data and coding.
12 - Non-Economic Measures
12A - Measures affecting travel and transport (local and international)			26 January 2021, Anyone, regardless of nationality, aged 6 or over, wishing to travel by air to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, must present upon boarding the negative result (on paper or electronic document) of a test that detects SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, or of a rapid antigen test, performed up to 72 hours before the flight. In addition, any person traveling by air from a third country, that is a country that is not a member of the European Union or the Schengen area, will have to undergo an additional rapid antigen test upon arrival at Luxembourg. In case of refusal to undergo this test, the person will remain in quarantine for a period of 14 days. This measure will be in place for all air travel to Luxembourg from 29 January to 28 February.
12B - Measures affecting business and workplace			(i) 25 November 2020, the government introduced new restrictions including closures of restaurants and bars; (ii) As of 28 June 2021, the Luxembourg authorities have reviewed current pandemic restrictions and determined that the following measures are in effect through 15 July 2021: (a) restaurants and cafés can stay open until 1:00 AM; (b) inside seated dining up to four people without the need for a negative test result. Outside dining up to ten people. For groups over four people, the new CovidCheck system applies, i.e., customers would show it to prove that they have either been vaccinated, tested negative, or recovered from a COVID-19 infection. These rules would apply for groups over four people that would like to sit indoors.
12C - Others			(i) People have been encouraged to self-isolate and should only leave the house for essential activities such as food shopping, going to work (note: working-from-home if possible), going to doctors and to help vulnerable people; (ii) All schools, universities and kindergartens have been closed since 16 March. As of 4 September 2020, the government announced a plan for school reopening, including more autonomy for schools to implement specific measures depending on the local health situation; (ii) To achieve a well-sequenced lifting of the lockdown restrictions and avoid a second wave of COVID-19 infections, the government envisages to perform large-scale testing on a voluntary basis, including cross-border commuters; (ii) All public gatherings are prohibited; (iii) All cultural and recreational events (incl. sport events) are suspended; (iv) 20 May 2020, The Luxembourg Ministry for the Economy has set-up a hotline and website with information for enterprises, which includes a FAQ on existing measures for companies, including SMEs (financial support and partial employment); (v) 16 July 2020, Mandatory face masks for both public and private gatherings of more than 20 people in case physical distance of 2 meters cannot be guaranteed; (vi) 16 July 2020, Fines for customers of bars and restaurants if they disregard the precautionary measures; (vii) 22 September 2020, the government extended restrictive measures until year-end and introduced new measures that include: (a) reducing the isolation period for infected people with; (b) allowing the processing of personal data that will be kept for a period of three months and then anonymized; and (c) making it mandatory for airlines to automatically transfer to health authorities forms completed by passengers to facilitate contact tracing; (viii) 29 October 2020, the government introduced temporary measures to address the recent spike in cases, including: (a) 11pm-6am curfew (until 30 November 2020), (b) a 4-person limit on the number of house guests, and (c) mandatory face masks at gatherings of more than 4 people. On 25 November 2020, the curfew was extended until mid-December, and the limit on the number of people at private gatherings was further reduced (see Measure 12B). As of 26 December 2020, the curfew was expanded to 9am-6am, effective until 15 January 2021; (ix) 4 December 2020, the government announced its COVID-19 vaccination strategy, focusing on (a) centralized procurement and distribution, (b) voluntary and free vaccination for residents and cross-border workers, and (c) continued monitoring of the vaccines' safety and efficacy; (ix) 25 November 2020, the government is imposing a 2-person limit on private gatherings; (x) 16 March 2021, Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine is temporarily suspended after reports of adverse side effects; (xi) As of 28 June 2021, the Luxembourg authorities have reviewed current pandemic restrictions and determined that the following measures are in effect through 15 July 2021: (a) a curfew is no longer in place; (b) ten guests are allowed in private homes. These guests do not have to be from the same household; (c) groups of up to ten people can exercise together; (d) some sporting events may take place with up to 2,000 people; however, this must be done in conjunction with the Ministry of Health; (e) masks must also be worn in the classroom at schools, although they are no longer mandatory once outside during school breaks; (f) masks remain mandatory within public transport and retail, although the limit on customers has been lifted for supermarkets and shopping centers.