The government revealed yesterday a plan to help safeguard the British economy from the evolving outbreak of COVID-19.
As measures to contain the spread of the virus have been put in place, several businesses are being negatively hit.
Indeed, many people are staying indoors during a time when they are being told to self-isolate to protect themselves from infection.
This puts an enormous strain on businesses in areas such as hospitality, which rely on costumers to dine in their restaurants, bars and pubs.
Elsewhere, the travel industry is feeling the bite of containment measures such as travel bans.
On Tuesday, the British government announced a plan to help these businesses, including at least £330 billion in loans – equivalent to 15% of GDP.
This allows any business to access a government backed loan or credit, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak also announced that, in the coming days, a support package specifically for airlines and airports will be discussed.
“We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy,” said Boris Johnson in a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
The Chancellor also revealed the highlights of the plan in a thread of 11 tweets. I have selected a few to share:
1/ We will support jobs, we will support incomes, we will support businesses, we will help you protect your loved ones. We will do whatever it takes.
Today, I am making available an initial £330bn of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of our GDP. Measures include:
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 17, 2020
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2/ Any business who needs access to cash will be able to access a government-backed loan, on attractive terms.
If demand is greater than the initial £330bn I’m making available today, I will go further and provide as much capacity as required.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 17, 2020
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3/ To support lending to small and medium sized businesses, I am extending the new Business Interruption Loan Scheme I announced at the Budget last week, so that rather than loans of £1.2m, it will now provide loans of up to £5m, with no interest due for the first six months.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 17, 2020
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4/ I announced last week that for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, with a rateable value of less than £51,000, they will pay no business rates this year.
Today, I provided those businesses with an additional cash grant of up to £25,000 per business.— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 17, 2020