The government of the UK is planning the launch of a big stimulus package ahead of the summer with a focus on the creation of jobs and infrastructure projects to help draft the economy out from the coronavirus or COVID-19 crisis, the Financial Times confirmed.
The Finance Minister Rishi Sunak rejected on Friday to talk about whether he is going to bring forward his next budget statement, which is due in autumn, to mention the way he will tackle the surging debt of Britain.
Sunak Did Not Mention Anything
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was elected in December after promising to upgrade the country's creaking infrastructure and the FT said this would form a central part of its recovery program, along with the retraining of workers. "We are trying to identify shovel-ready projects — we want to get a move on with this," it quoted one minister as saying.
Sunak said on Friday that employers hammered by the coronavirus shutdown would have to gradually start contributing to the government's hugely expensive wage subsidy scheme, but only from August. The government has been paying since March 80 percent of the wages of workers who are temporarily laid off, and who now total 8.4 million, to limit a surge in unemployment.
While that has been warmly welcomed by unions and business groups there are still fears that many jobs will go in sectors that will struggle to reopen, such as hospitality, retail and aviation.
(With agency inputs)
