"It was day two of Germany's first lockdown in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, when then Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) and then Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) made bold promises. In his explanation of the coronavirus emergency aid for microenterprises and self-employed individuals, Scholz said: "It is very important to me that we are providing a grant, not a loan. This means that nothing needs to be repaid." To which Altmaier added: "We will not leave anyone behind!""
"Marion Alemeier now feels quite abandoned. "There was a lot of hype, but none of the promises were kept," she told DW. "Many colleagues and friends warned me at the time: 'Be careful, you'll have to pay this back.' And I replied, 'No, that's not possible; they can't do that.'" At the time, Alemeier received 9,000 ($10,400) in emergency aid, money she urgently needed because for six weeks she had lost all her income."
"Later, however, it was announced that the subsidy had only been awarded based on an estimate of what was needed to bridge the "liquidity gap" caused by the pandemic. The reason for this was that the Federal Economy Ministry estimated that of the approximately 13 billion that the federal and state governments had paid in emergency pandemic aid for the months of March to June 2020, 5 billion had been overpaid."
Hairdresser Marion Alemeier remembers March 23, 2020, the second day of Germany's first COVID-19 lockdown when ministers promised non-repayable emergency grants. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the aid would be a grant, not a loan, and Economics Minister Peter Altmaier vowed not to leave anyone behind. Alemeier received 9,000 ($10,400) to cover six weeks of lost income and salons reopened on May 4, 2020. Later the Federal Economy Ministry estimated that of about 13 billion paid from March to June 2020, 5 billion had been overpaid. Tens of thousands of repayment requests followed, prompting legal challenges and ongoing disputes with state authorities.
Read at www.dw.com
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