UK to allocate $17bn for new infrastructure bank

LONDON: Britain is to launch a new infrastructure bank with £12 billion ($17 billion) in capital and £10 billion in government guarantees, the treasury said on Saturday, aimed at supporting the economy.

British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, is expected to announce the initial funding at Wednesday’s budget and the bank will launch in spring, the ministry said.

“Britain’s businesses and the Great British public deserve world-class infrastructure and that is exactly what this new bank will help us deliver for them,” Sunak was quoted as saying.

The bank is set to finance private sector projects in the green economy, focusing on areas such as carbon capture and renewable energy.

It will also provide loans to local authorities at low interest rates to support “complex infrastructure projects.”

The Finance Ministry said the bank would unlock billions more in private finance to support a £40 billion infrastructure investment to “fire up the economy” and help reach commitments on net zero emissions and reducing regional deprivation.

The announcement comes as Britain’s economy has been hit hard by pandemic lockdowns.

Analysts expect unemployment to surge when the UK government’s furlough scheme paying the bulk of wages for millions in the private sector ends — as currently planned — at the end of April.

Sunak last week hinted he would announce further employment support in the coming months.

He first announced the planned bank in November last year, saying its headquarters would be in northern England rather than in the financial hub of London.

Apprenticeships

The minister will also announce more funding for apprenticeships in England.

Employers taking part in the Apprenticeship Initiative Scheme will from April 1 receive £3,000 for each apprentice hired, regardless of age — an increase on current grants of between £1,500 and £2,000 depending on age.

The scheme will be extended by six months until the end of September, the Finance Ministry said.

Sunak will also announce an extra £126 million for traineeships for up to 43,000 placements.

‘Enormous strains’

Sunak will use the budget next week to level with the public over the “enormous strains” in the country’s finances, warning that a bill will have to be paid after further coronavirus support, according to an interview with the Financial Times.

Sunak told the newspaper there was an immediate need to spend more to protect jobs as the UK emerged from COVID-19, but warned that Britain’s finances were now “exposed.”

UK exposure to a rise of 1 percentage point across all interest rates was £25 billion a year to the government’s cost of servicing its debt, Sunak told FT.

Additionally, the government will also announce a new £100 million task force to crackdown on COVID-19 fraudsters exploiting government support schemes, it said.