Higher Rate of Advance Payment Extended for another 6 Months 8 July 2009
The Government has extended the deadline period for granting a higher rate of advance payment, which applicants approved funding within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan are eligible to request. In accordance with this decision, applicants are eligible to request even up to 40% of the funding approved in the case of calls for applications to be announced up to 31 December 2009.
The Government endeavoured to counterbalance the negative impacts of the financial and economic crisis and credit crunch by adopting a decision in December 2008 – primarily in the case of EU-funded applications geared towards economic development and tourism investments, as well as workplace training – to increase the rate of advance payment applicants are eligible to request to 40% of the funding approved. Thanks to this measure, micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as local governments received additional resources - substituting expensive bank loans that are more difficult to obtain on account of the crisis - making it possible to launch the implementation of projects more expediently and maintain their liquidity.
Experiences gained over the past period and surveys conducted among applicants demonstrate that project hosts find this higher rate and more expediently accessibly advance payment beneficial. The positive receipt of this higher rate of advance payment is also demonstrated in the way advance payments amounting to approximately 50 billion HUF were paid within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan up to December 2008, which amount increased by 100% by May 2009. In the first five months of this year alone, the National Development Agency paid advance payments amounting to 52 billion HUF to project hosts.
In accordance with this decision, applicants approved funding are eligible to request this higher rate of advance payment in the case of calls for applications to be announced up to 31 December 2009. Rules concerning the deadline for requesting interim payments have also changed: instead of 6 months, applicants approved funding must, as a mandatory requirement, submit requests for interim payment in connection with the project they have launched within a period of 8 months following the request made for advance payment.
According to NDA calculations, together with the calls for applications of the regional operational programmes, a total of 300 calls for applications will be announced in 2009, the total framework of which is expected to exceed 920 billion HUF. Therefore, by taking calls currently open, as well as calls to be announced during the year into account, applicants approved funding within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan are expected to receive advance payments amounting to 116.7 billion HUF in 2009 and an additional 42 billion HUF in the first half of 2010.