LatinNews Daily - 22 June 2020

* Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera has promulgated a law which expands the scope of the Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia (IFE) emergency basic income, implemented to help the most vulnerable weather the impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The law increases the IFE from Cl$65,000 (US$79.5) to Cl$100,000 per person for individuals who have no formal employment (the government notes that this guarantees a Cl$400,000 income to families of four). The IFE, which is offered on a monthly basis, depending on the circumstances of the claimant, has been expanded to include not just households with no formal income, but also those with some formal income or which already receive other benefits – in which cases, the value of the IFE handout complements other sources of income to a total Cl$100,000 per person. “It constitutes a help, a relief, a very urgent and necessary contribution,” Piñera stressed as he promulgated the law, the result of a cross-party accord reached in congress. He also promulgated a law which implements benefits to self-employed workers who have been affected by the pandemic, “to support them and provide the liquidity they need,” with the government making up between 40% and 70% of their lost income, up to a monthly maximum of Cl$100,000.

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