The German Retail Association (HDE) has called for direct financial aid to also be given to medium-sized retailers. In addition, relief on rent payments and liability-free loans are necessary, Stefan Genth, chief executive of the HDE, said on Deutschlandfunk radio on Thursday. He said that the federal government's aid package, which was passed yesterday, only reached small and medium-sized businesses indirectly and too slowly.
The closure of the shops "has deprived us of the basis for our business. But all costs - especially the rents, which are very high in the city centers, for example - are still running," Genth said. Aid should not flow in four weeks, but should arrive in the next few days, he said.
That's because applying for loans takes too long, Genth said. High street banks, which were exposed to a "rush," also caused problems: it was not acceptable that a fashion entrepreneur was asked by his bank to sell his private house first before he could get a loan - for which he would then only be guaranteed 40 percent liability, Genth said. After all, the medium-sized retail trade had ended up in the current crisis through no fault of its own.
If the current restrictions were to remain in place for months, it would be a disaster, Genth said. "I can't imagine how we can survive a quarter without customers, without retail sales." In principle, the association welcomed the federal government's aid. However, the ways in which it reaches small and medium-sized businesses should be reexamined, he said. There is a lot of money in the aid package, "but SMEs must also get it," said Genth.
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