The scale of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Covid-19 rescue package for Britain’s hard-pressed businesses — big corporations and smaller enterprises — is startling in both its scale and ambition. It seeks to restore confidence so that when this current peril is over, our economy, the financial markets, pension funds and savings will recover. But in going to the Bank of England for cash, they will be adding to their debt load and will be paying interest. The British Business Bank, which has been given £5 bn to dish out to smaller enterprises, has a reputation for inefficiency. Nevertheless, the positivity with which Boris Johnson, the Chancellor and the Bank of England are approaching this crisis should not be underestimated.

Source: Daily Mail March 18, 2020 02:03 UTC