Hanoi (VNA) –💮 Ministerof Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung submitted a relief package worth 61.58trillion VND (2.6 billion USD) to help those most affected by the COVID-19pandemic at the meeting of permanent Government members on April 1.

According to the proposal,there will be six groups of people who are eligible for the relief payments tobe made in cash or through the Bank for Social Policies. Social policy beneficiariesand those who have rendered services to the State during the revolution and warswho are receiving monthly allowances will be given an additional 500,000 VND (21.8USD) each month in April, May, and June. There are about 4.135million people who fall under this category. About 984,000 poor householdsand 1,260,000 near-poor households across the country will receive 1 millionVND each month also in April, May, and June. In Vietnam, income-wise, thepoor households are those earning less than 1 million VND a month in urbanareas, or less than 800,000 VND in rural areas. Workers who were laid off orput on leave without pay due to the direct impacts of the COVID-19 pandemicwill be provided 1.8 million VND (76 USD) a person a month. A monthly payment of 1 millionVND paid for three months will be given to an estimated five million workerswho either lost their jobs, don’t have a labour contract or had their contractsterminated when their social insurance contribution period is not sufficientfor unemployment benefit payout. Individual businesshouseholds with yearly revenues below 100 million VND who have to temporarilyclose down as part of the Government’s stay-at-home order and social distancingmeasures will be given 1 million VND a month over a three-month period. About760,000 households are eligible for this support. Employers can borrow from theVietnam Social Policy Bank with zero interest rate over 12 months to paysalaries for their furloughed workers in the three-month period. Those eligible for more thantwo types of support in this bill will only be able to receive the highestvalue support. There will also be policiesin place to help simplify the process of claiming unemployment support forworkers. Employers and employees willalso temporarily be exempt from their obligatory contributions to theretirement and survivors’ fund (part of the Government-sponsored insuranceprogramme). More than half of the package’svalue will be sourced from the State budget, while the remainder will comefrom “mobilisation of other sources,” according to the Government. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said thatthe Government “highly supports” the draft package and ordered measures be putin place to ensure the transparency of the implementation, make sure that therewould be no fraud and that the support will go to the right people. /.