Coronavirus: Chancellor unveils £330bn lifeline for economy

The government has unveiled a package of financial measures to shore up the economy against the coronavirus impact.

These include £330bn for companies to access loans, support for airlines, a business rates holiday, and help for small firms without insurance.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak told a press conference it was an “economic emergency. Never in peacetime have we faced an economic fight like this one.”

And he promised that if this package was not enough, he would go further.

From the hospitality industry to the airline sector, companies have warned that their long term survival is under threat.

Mr Sunak said: “Some sectors are facing particularly acute challenges. In the coming days, my colleague the Secretary of State for Transport and I will discuss a potential support package specifically for airlines and airports.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during the same media briefing that “we must do whatever it takes to support the economy”. He added: “This a time to be bold, to have courage. We will support jobs, we will support incomes, we will support businesses… We will do whatever it takes.”

The chancellor said he was extending the business rates holiday to all firms in the hospitality sector and funding grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 for small businesses. And Mr Sunak said that for those in financial difficulty due to coronavirus, mortgage lenders will offer a three-month mortgage holiday.

‘No time for ideology’

He unveiled the measures after the government’s chief scientific adviser said about 55,000 people in the UK now have Covid-19, as the NHS moved to cancel all non-emergency surgery and 71 people are now known to have died.

Mr Sunak said: “This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy, this is a time to be bold, a time for courage. I want to reassure every British citizen this government will give you all the tools you need to get through this.” The £330bn package was, he said, equivalent to 15% of UK GDP.

“That means any business who needs access to cash to pay their rent, their salaries, suppliers or purchase stock will be able to access a government-backed loan or credit on attractive terms.

“And if demand is greater than the initial £330bn I’m making available today, I will go further and provide as much capacity as required. I said whatever it takes, and I meant it.”

He said the aid package was to help companies “meet the fixed costs of their staff without having to let them go”.

“Whatever it takes” was the promise from the chancellor to support businesses, families and individuals through the coronavirus crisis. It was a phrase successfully used by a European central banker eight years ago – and effectively calmed a significant eurozone crisis.

But this intervention is a bigger bazooka than that, because the challenge of coronavirus and the measures to contain it pose to peoples livelihoods and wellbeing are more significant.

The extraordinary figure here was £330bn in state-backed loans for all businesses through the banking system with the help of the Bank of England.

That is 15% of the value of the economy. Normally economic announcements are worth a fraction of a percent of national income – this move is about a fraction of our entire GDP. And that is because the self-isolation and suppression moves announced yesterday will remove a chunk of our economy.

At a stroke, every single forecast number in the Budget the chancellor gave less than a week ago are out of date. We are in an entirely new world. A wartime effort, with wartime deficits to cover it.

It’s not just there will be less tax and more income support required, which typically causes deficits to spike in recessions. Now we face the need for subsidy and provision of incomes in these very tough times.

This is not a bailout. It’s a very expensive bridge that the government cannot afford to fail to build.

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