£30billion package to save economy
THE PAIN of balancing public finances as the recession caused by coronavirus was predicted to be the worst on record has been kicked down the road, as Chancellor Rishi Sunak launched his plan to save jobs and pull the country back from the brink.
Mr Sunak unveiled a £30bn emergency package of measures last week including a voucher scheme offering those who dine out between Monday and Wednesday 50 per cent off their food bill, and a cut in VAT to five per cent for the hospitality sector.
He announced a Job Retention Bonus will be introduced to help firms keep furloughed workers, where employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed as of January 31, 2021.
A new £2bn Kickstart Scheme was also announced to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people.
And a total of a total of £1.6bn will be invested in employment support schemes, training and apprenticeships to help people looking for a job. Some £8.8bn was committed to new infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects, in a bid to create more jobs. And a cut to stamp duty until March was also announced.
Speaking in the Commons Mr Sunak said: “People are anxious about losing their jobs, about unemployment rising. We’re not just going to accept this.
“People need to know we will do all we can to give everyone the opportunity of good and secure work. People need to know
“People need to know we will do all we can to give the opportunity of good and secure work.”
that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope.”
He said the plan is to “protect, support and create” jobs, adding: “Where problems emerge, we will confront them. Where support is justified, we will provide it. Where challenges arise, we will overcome them. We entered this crisis unencumbered by dogma and we continue in this spirit.”
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