The Government is providing an additional $25 million to help more businesses in the clean-up from the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle affected regions and get them back on their feet.

This follows earlier support of $50 million to assist the business community with their immediate cashflow needs.

“The priority has been to get businesses back up and running as quickly as possible from the impact of the cyclone, working through the local agencies on the ground who know their area best,” says Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson.

“Demand for grants has been strong, with applications to the local providers managing the funding exceeding the $50 million allocated. Based on the most recent assessment, an additional $22 million is required to meet the additional demand, with around 5,800 applications received.

The extra funding allows more firms to be supported up to the $40,000 per-business. As with the previous funding, it will be managed at a local level by agreed providers.

“The split of this additional funding between regions will be based on the latest available data. Ministers are committed to ensuring that it is focused on those regions where the need is greatest.

“We are committed to helping people and businesses recover from the cyclone. The way we do that will change as we shift from the response to recovery phase. We will continue to closely monitor the needs of local communities and work with local agencies, iwi and councils as we move from to recovery and rebuild from these extreme weather events.