Rishi Sunak said British economy shrank 25% during coronavirus shutdown (File)
London:
The British government unveiled a package worth 30 billion pounds (37 billion dollars, 33 billion euros) on Wednesday to save jobs and help young people work to revive the economy affected by coronaviruses.
Providing a mini-budget to Parliament, measures by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak included bonuses for companies that retain staff and hire apprentices, investments in “ green ” jobs and allow the whole country to benefit reduced meal prices in restaurants.
“People should know that even if difficulties are to come, no one will be left without hope,” said Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak.
Noting that “people are impatient to lose their jobs, to see unemployment rise,” Sunak told the country:
“We are not just going to accept it.”
Other measures included a temporary reduction in the level of value added tax on food, accommodation and attractions – and the lifting of the threshold at which the stamp tax is due on purchases of houses to help the construction.
Britain suffered the deadliest COVID-19 epidemic in Europe and a nationwide shutdown caused the worst economic contraction among the major industrialized G7 countries.
Sunak said the UK economy had shrunk by 25 percent since the closure of the coronavirus – “the same amount it has grown in the previous 18 years”.
The Chancellor also confirmed 3 billion green investments after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to “build, build, build” to get out of the economic crisis.
The investment program includes £ 2 billion in subsidies for households to insulate houses and make them more energy efficient, and an additional £ 1 billion for public sector buildings, including hospitals.
The plan is also part of Britain’s long-term commitment to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 to fight climate change.
Britain imposed a national ban on March 23 to stop the spread of COVID-19, but gradually began to loosen the restrictions in hopes of spurring troubled businesses.
Recent official data has shown that the UK’s largest quarterly contraction in over 40 years – at minus 2.2% – during the January-March period.
However, the data included only the first full week of the foreclosure and economists expect subsequent damage to be considerably worse for the second quarter.
Another contraction would place Britain in a technical recession.
Since the start of the crisis, the Bank of England has injected $ 300 billion in stimulants into the UK economy hit by the virus and lowered its main interest rate to a record low of 0.1% – measures aimed at supporting businesses and saving jobs.
Experts estimate that the total cost of state emergency measures could reach 300 billion euros.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
