KfW Special Programme extended until the end of the year – Ceilings for maximum loan amounts raised

Joint press release by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Federal Ministry of Finance and KfW

The German Federal Government and KfW are extending the KfW Special Programme until 31 December 2021 and are also raising the maximum credit limits from 1 April 2021. The KfW Special Programme was launched on 23 March 2020 and, in the space of one year, facilitated corporate financing totalling EUR 49 billion in order to cushion the effects of the coronavirus crisis. Small and medium-sized enterprises have been the main beneficiaries of the programme.

Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz: “Our aid policy is helping to make sure the German economy makes it through the coronavirus crisis in relatively good condition. The pandemic continues to present us with some major challenges. Our protective shield for employees and businesses is therefore still wide open. We are extending the KfW Special Programme and once again expanding our coronavirus aid. For businesses, one thing is for certain: they can count on our support through KfW. Our goal is to work together to get things back up and running properly and quickly after the pandemic.”

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier: “The coronavirus crisis will continue to keep us in its grip this year and we are not leaving our businesses to cope alone. For this reason, we have once again significantly raised the ceilings on the maximum credit amounts, thus passing the full scope of the expanded aid framework on to our businesses. This not only benefits small- and medium-sized enterprises, but also larger companies. Extending the entire KfW Special Programme provides planning security for the German economy, thus making a contribution to a further economic upswing.”

Chief Executive Officer of KfW, Dr Günther Bräunig, says: “The year 2021 will be yet another year shaped by coronavirus, placing huge strain on the German economy. Small- and medium-sized enterprises are particularly affected by the effects of the pandemic and need to persevere if they are to withstand the crisis. By extending the programme and raising the maximum amounts, we are giving them a bit of extra breathing space.”

Overview of the changes:

1. We are providing businesses with additional planning security by extending the KfW Special Programme, including the KfW Instant Loan, until 31 December 2021 (previously limited until 30 June 2021).

2. With the KfW Special Programme, we are supporting businesses with significantly higher maximum loan amounts for small-scale aid in future.

In future, the maximum credit amounts for the KfW Instant Loan are:

• EUR 1.8 million for businesses with more than 50 employees (previously EUR 800,000)
• EUR 1.125 million for businesses with between 10 and 50 employees (previously EUR 500,000)
• EUR 675,000 for businesses with up to ten employees (previously EUR 300,000)

The maximum credit limit per company group will remain unchanged at 25 percent of their annual turnover for 2019.
For the KfW Entrepreneur Loan and the ERP Start-up Loan with terms of more than 6 years, we are increasing the maximum loan amount from the previous EUR 800,000 to EUR 1.8 million.

3. KfW will implement these measures as of 1 April 2021.

With the improvements to the KfW coronavirus aid programmes, the German Federal Government and KfW are implementing the options created by the European Commission with the 5th amendment to the Temporary Framework for State Aid.

KfW coronavirus aid is available to businesses which, as per the requirements of the Temporary Framework, can prove that they were not in financial difficulty prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis. Financing for businesses in difficulty or those without a viable business model is excluded.

Further information about KfW’s coronavirus aid offers is available at Information for media representatives and multipliers: KfW coronavirus aid (German page).