Rishi Sunak to give coronavirus update as bosses demand lockdown exit plan
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will update MPs on Monday
3 min read
Rishi Sunak will update MPs on the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak later, as business chiefs piled pressure on the Government to plot a course out of lockdown.
The Chancellor is expected to give a Commons statement at 3.30pm, amid a warning from the Institute of Directors that firms need to know how to “get going again safely” and take the economy off “life support”.
Mr Sunak’s message to the Commons comes in the wake of a dire forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which predicted earlier this month that the UK economy could shrink by a record 35%, with unemployment soaring by two million, if the nationwide lockdown remains in place for a full three months.
In the latest grim economic indicator, the IoD polled over a thousand directors and found major concern about the UK’s prospects over the next twelve months.
Business leaders’ net confidence in how their company will fare over the next year has plummeted to -22%, the lowest level since the IoD’s tracker started in the wake of the Brexit referendum.
More than a third (37%) of those polled said they were now “quite pessimistic” about their organisation’s prospects over the coming year, while 9% said they were "very pessimistic".
On the wider UK economy, 42% said they were “quite pessimistic” and 38% said they were “very pessimistic”.
The findings have prompted the IoD to demand more clarity from ministers about the Government's plans to eventually ease the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Jon Geldart, director general of the Institute of Directors, said: "Over the last few days the clamour from our members for information on how, and when, coronavirus-related restrictions will begin to lift has increased substantially. Directors from all parts of the UK need to make plans for riding out this tempest, but they can't get very far if they have no idea what will be happening in a few weeks' time.”
And he warned: "The Government faces a near-impossible task in protecting the nation's health while also thinking about how to let businesses restart. Directors do not in any way want to be reckless, quite the opposite. They want to know how they can get going again safely in a way that supports efforts to make sure the virus is kept under control.
"It's in everyone's interests to get the economy off life support when it's safe to do so. Business leaders know this will not happen all in one go, but that's why it's even more important to tell them what they need to prepare for."
Mr Sunak’s statement comes amid reports the Treasury is set to significantly ramp up state backing for loans to businesses hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
The Government currently underwrites 80% of the value of loans handed out under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
But groups including the Federation of Small Business and the CBI have urged the Chancellor to go further and give a 100% guarantee amid concerns over the speed at which banks are getting money to cash-strapped firms.
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