Between June 2020 and June 2022, the federal government’s bridging aid and the Bavarian Corona hardship aid flowed to companies that were affected by the Corona pandemic and the government's countermeasures have run into difficulties. From March to June 2020, the state capital of Munich and the district governments also provided emergency aid. Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger says:
"The various Corona economic aid measures provided by the federal government and the Free State of Bavaria were necessary during the pandemic and have proven their worth. By providing liquidity amounting to €13 billion, numerous, especially small and medium-sized, companies in Bavaria were specifically supported and stabilized during the crisis; some were saved from going out of business or becoming insolvent thanks to the state aid."
According to Aiwanger, Bavaria achieved the best results in a nationwide comparison in terms of audit accuracy to prevent abuse and fraud as well as in terms of funding levels.
Aiwanger calls on the federal government to digitalise funding procedures
The largest share of all aid disbursed in Bavaria, 41 percent, went to the hospitality industry, followed by retail with 14 percent and the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector with 14 percent of total benefits. Around half of the aid disbursed went to Upper Bavaria: 23 percent of the total amount went to Munich-based companies, and another 26 percent to companies from the rest of Upper Bavaria.
Based on his experience with the complex processing of applications for Corona aid, Aiwanger calls for the digitalization of future funding:
"I consider it essential that the federal government initiate the development of a software project for funding procedures. Based on previous experience, we need a process that is as fully digitalized as possible in the future, one that can handle the volume of applications and the corresponding documentation requirements. Data analysis options and interfaces to the various state authorities – for example, to combat fraud – would need to be better designed and implemented from the outset."
