Britain will Wednesday unveil a mini-budget to kickstart the UK economy, hoping costly infrastructure investment will help build its way out of the crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to “build, build, build” in an “infrastructure revolution” for schools, affordable housing, road maintenance and public transport.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak is due to deliver his spending plans at 1130 GMT, having already flagged £3 billion ($3.7 billion, 3.3 billion euros) of green investment. The chancellor of the exchequer will offer £2 billion ($2.5 billion, 2.2 billion euros) in grants for households to insulate homes and make them more energy efficient. A further £1 billion ($1.25 billion, 1 billion euros) is being provided for public sector buildings, including hospitals.
Britain has had more than 44,000 deaths in the outbreak — the highest in Europe — heaping pressure on the government for its handling of the crisis. Sunak said on Tuesday: “As Britain recovers from the outbreak, it’s vital we do everything in our power to support and protect livelihoods across the nation.
The plan is part also of Britain’s long-term pledge to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 to tackle climate change. In addition, Sunak may announce plans to reduce stamp duty, which is levied on real estate transactions, to boost the property market. Yet he is not expected to alter Britain’s emergency jobs retention plan, or furloughing, under which the government pays up to 80 percent of salaries for private sector workers.
Furloughing, which ends in October, is part of a series of multi-billion-pound packages to help those affected by the impact of the outbreak in Britain. Recent official data showed that the UK’s biggest quarterly contraction for more than 40 years — at minus 2.2 percent — in the January-March period. The Bank of England has pumped cash stimulus worth £300 billion to prop up Britain’s virus-hit economy since the crisis erupted. Experts estimate the total cost of state emergency measures meanwhile could run as high as £300 billion.
Source: DJ
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