{"id":115269,"date":"2021-03-03T12:15:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T12:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=115269"},"modified":"2021-03-03T12:15:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T12:15:51","slug":"uks-sunak-to-promise-whatever-it-takes-in-new-covid-budget-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/uks-sunak-to-promise-whatever-it-takes-in-new-covid-budget-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"UK's Sunak to promise 'whatever it takes' in new COVID budget plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain\u2019s finance minister Rishi Sunak will promise on Wednesday to do \u201cwhatever it takes\u201d, including a five-month extension of a huge jobs rescue plan, to steer the economy through what he hopes will be the final months of COVID restrictions.<\/p> Sunak has already racked up Britain\u2019s highest borrowing since World War Two and he will turn to the bond markets again in his budget speech, saying the task of fixing the public finances will only begin once a recovery is in sight.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re using the full measure of our fiscal firepower to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people,\u201d Sunak will say, according to excerpts of his speech which is due to begin around 1230 GMT.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, we will continue doing whatever it takes to support the British people and businesses through this moment of crisis,\u201d he will tell parliament.<\/p>\n \u201cSecond, once we are on the way to recovery, we will need to begin fixing the public finances \u2013 and I want to be honest today about our plans to do that. And, third, in today\u2019s budget we begin the work of building our future economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Britain has suffered the biggest COVID-19 death toll in Europe and the heaviest economic shock among big rich countries, according to headline measures of official data. It shrank by 10% last year, its worst slump in three centuries.<\/p>\n Sunak has so far spent almost 300 billion pounds on emergency support measures and tax cuts.<\/p>\n Many companies are also under strain from Brexit after Britain left the European Union\u2019s single market on Jan. 1 and the government faces the challenge of huge investment to meet its promise to create a net zero carbon economy by 2050.<\/p>\n The detection of a Brazilian variant of the coronavirus has served as a reminder that Britain\u2019s bounce-back from the pandemic cannot be taken for granted even as it races ahead with Europe\u2019s fastest COVID-19 vaccination programme.<\/p>\n Related Coverage<\/p>\n<\/p>\n See more stories