UK extends costly COVID aid, announces tax hike for businesses
Al Jazeera
Among the UK’s new measures are a five-month extension of the jobs rescue plan, the continuation of an emergency increase in welfare payments, and an extension of a VAT cut for the hospitality sector.
United Kingdom finance minister Rishi Sunak announced a costly extension of his emergency aid programmes to see the UK’s economy through its current coronavirus lockdown, but announced a tax hike for many businesses as he began to focus on fixing the public finances. Delivering an annual budget speech on Wednesday, Sunak said the economy will regain its pre-pandemic size in the middle of 2022, six months earlier than previously forecast, helped by Europe’s fastest COVID-19 vaccination programme. But the economy will remain 3 percent smaller in five years’ time than it would have been without the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis and extra support is needed now as the country remains under coronavirus restrictions, he said.More Related News