Thursday newspaper round-up: Coronavirus wage subsidy, outbreak exit strategy, Treasury bond sales
Millions of people across Britain risk falling through gaps in the coronavirus wage subsidy plan and benefits system, according to two of the country’s leading economics thinktanks. After ministers hurriedly pulled together plans to increase the level of financial aid available from the state as the Covid-19 outbreak intensifies, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said many self-employed workers would still get no support, while others would be left financially better off as a result of the crisis. – Guardian
Business leaders have warned that British companies are running out of time to stay afloat amid the coronavirus outbreak, after a survey showed a majority of firms had just three months of cash or less in reserve. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said companies across the country were suffering from a sharp and significant fall in domestic and overseas sales as lockdown measures brought many firms close to collapse, threatening widespread job losses. – Guardian
Governments should buy up businesses that collapse to stop workers losing jobs and enable a quick recovery once the coronavirus crisis is over, the International Monetary Fund has urged. The Depression-era policy should be used to save the economy’s productive capacity if loans, job support and other help for companies turns out to be insufficient, it recommended. – Telegraph
The government needs to set out an exit strategy for the coronavirus crisis because a lockdown that lasts for months is unrealistic and will damage the economy, Lord King of Lothbury, the former Bank of England governor, warned yesterday. Lord King, who led the Bank during the 2008 financial crisis, said that an indefinite shutdown would hurt younger generations and would cause mental health problems. If it went on too long, “there will be a rebellion against it” among the young, he added. – The Times
The Treasury has raised £3 billion in the first of a series of bond sales this month to fund spending needed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The Debt Management Office, which deals with the government’s debt cash requirements, said that the tender of the first tranche of a series of sales in April had been completed yesterday. The average price accepted in the tender was £112, a yield of 0.2 per cent. – The Times