The government and their (arbitrary?) measures

I find it important to soften the economic downfall, but every measure taken will always be arbitrary.

First of all, I think nobody will deny the fact that measures are needed in these strange times. But the term “Financial Bazooka” as Pierre Wunsch himself uses in this article is a good example of one of the big problems with the measures taken. Like a real bazooka, they just shoot with powerful ammunition in one direction. For example, they’re giving a nuisance grant of €4000 to all establishments forced to close, but not to night shops that can keep open with limited opening hours, who obviously see their revenues lowering. Other examples are barber shops, physiotherapists, personal trainers.

Of course, every measure taken will always be de facto discriminatory. In the meantime, the government has taken other measures to help some of those who weren’t helped by the first measures. But now there’s a certainty that some will combine the different measures and even make a profit when comparing corona times and a regular period.

Lastly, the conditions to defer your mortgage doesn’t seem 100% fair to me. If you have €25.000 of savings, you can not defer your loan without costs. So, if you have been saving for example for your renovation and you’re planning to start in August, chances exist that you will have to delay. Whilst others who weren’t frugal and just blew up their money get helped by the financial institutions.

All these reasons here above strengthen me in my opinion that the government should try to take measures for all those affected by the crisis.

If you want to find out more about the measures taken by the Belgian government, check this article: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2020/03/23/financial-bazooka-to-help-families-and-firms-cope-with-the-impa/