Government’s fiscal support approaches £160bn since March

Fiscal support worth almost £160 billion has been announced by the government since March to deal with the coronavirus crisis, according to new treasury figures.

The sum is almost £30bn more than the latest estimate from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) of £133 billion.

It includes employment support worth £69bn, business support worth £30bn, and some £50bn for public service spending, funding for charities, and support for vulnerable people.

The total tax deferrals and approved loans stands at almost £123bn.

Figures released by the treasury also set out that the government has approved £32bn of support for health services, including £15bn for PPE procurement for frontline staff.

A further £10bn has been allocated for the government’s Test, Trace, Contain and Enable programme to support the unlocking of the economy.

And more than £1bn has been allocated to procure additional ventilators.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson said: “Prior to today, the total value of new measures announced since March was thought to stand at £130bn.

“Today the treasury revised that figure up to nearly £160bn with £30bn more being spent on public services, especially health.

“The chancellor also set out new measures worth a further £30bn.

“More support may well need to be announced in the autumn when we know more about the path of the virus and of the economy, but this was another big package from the chancellor.

“It was focused on the right things, such as jobs for the young, but its size in part reflects how hard it is to target resources only where they are really needed.

“Much of the job retention bonus cash will be paid in respect of employees who would have (or indeed have already) returned to work anyway, for example.”

Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Today’s Budget-in-all-but-name was a £30bn top-up to a pandemic response that is approaching 10% of GDP and will push borrowing to around £350bn this year.”