France To Grant Over $600Mln State Loan To COVID-19-Hit Hotel Real Estate Group - Minister

France to Grant Over $600Mln State Loan to COVID-19-Hit Hotel Real Estate Group - Minister

The French government will allocate 500 million euros (over $600 million) in a form of a state-guaranteed loan to the French hotel real estate AccorInvest Group to help it cope with the pandemic-related damage, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Radio Classique on Tuesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The French government will allocate 500 million Euros (over $600 million) in a form of a state-guaranteed loan to the French hotel real estate AccorInvest Group to help it cope with the pandemic-related damage, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Radio Classique on Tuesday.

AccorInvest is a former subsidiary of French-based multinational hotel company Accor, which owns and operates hotels and resorts across the world.

"We will effectively grant AccorInvest a state-guaranteed loan of half a billion euros," Le Maire said, adding that the company was "in great financial difficulty."

Services and hotel sectors in France have been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19-induced crisis, as the government imposed travel restrictions, which halted the tourist flow. However, the businesses engaged in the worst-hit industries are eligible to benefit via various forms of state assistance, including state-guaranteed loans and the partial employment scheme, which allow the companies to receive payments from the government to partially cover expenses like salaries of their staff.