The Government of São Tome and Príncipe, on the basis of Presidential Decree No. 03/2020 declaring the State of Emergency under authorization of Resolution No. 67 / XI / 3rd / 2020 of the National Assembly, adopted a series of measures to be in force during the period of the state of emergency, among which we highlight those relevant to the business sector:
1. Companies that show a 50% or greater drop in revenue in the last 2 months, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will enjoy the following benefits during a 3 month period:
• Exemption from default interest and other illegal additions on tax and parafiscal debts accumulated during the period of the state of emergency or accumulated prior to the emergency state and notified during said period.
• Payment of debts to companies providing goods and services to the State;
• Moratorium without penalties for the payment of benefits that are in progress;
• Suspension of tax foreclosures;
• Implementation of the transitional regime for suspension of labour relations, adapted to the Santomean reality;
• Provision of a credit line for small and medium-sized companies suffering the pandemic with subsidised interest rates;
• Provision of an entrepreneurship fund.
2. The Government will create a resilience fund at the Central Bank during a period of 6 months and will be operated by the Public Treasury. This fund will be financed through a withholding from the salaries of the workers of the public and private sectors from 5 to 10% depending on the total remuneration.
3. Moratorium on payment of bank credit during 6 months.
4. Accelerating the implementation of investment projects already identified and negotiated with partners.
The Government, through Decree-Law, will legislate on all the measures provided for in this Resolution.
