Sydney, Jul 17 (IANS): Australia's Sydney city on Friday provided further support for restaurants, bars and venues to get back on track, as businesses have slowly reopened after the COVID-19 lockdown.

In its latest round of business support grants announced on Friday, the City of Sydney has awarded A$222,334 ($155,100) to night-time and live music businesses, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for Sydney's night-time economy, which was only just beginning to breathe again after the lockout laws were lifted in January," Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

"Sydney's core night-time economy is not only critical to our city's future -- generating more than A$4.2 billion in revenue each year and employing more than 35,500 people across nearly 5,000 businesses -- it is key to our vision for Sydney as a thriving global city," she said.

Moore said businesses operating at night were hardest hit by the COVID-19 restriction measures, so it is critical to support these businesses to get back to normal as restrictions ease.

"We recently approved COVID-19 relief grants for 654 projects, worth a total of A$8.85 million, which included 144 businesses operating at night," she said.

The latest round of grants will help to create a wide range of new events across the city, including literary dinners, live music, dance workshops and cooking classes.

A further 12 not-for-profit or members-based organizations have been awarded A$350,000 to promote local economies and improve access to industry information, upskilling and networking.