Switzerland ready to raise US$21b loan package

A sign reading "Stay at home. Please. All." is put up as part of protection measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the trendy Idaplatz square in Zurich, Switzerland March 28, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

SWITZERLAND'S 20 billion-franc ($21 billion) fund for state-backed emergency loans to small businesses can be increased, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer told the SonntagsBlick newspaper.

Lending under the program began last week, and there have already been 30,000 applications, Maurer said in an interview with the newspaper published on Sunday. The government has guaranteed roughly 4 billion francs worth of lending in just two days, he said.