By Chathushka Perera
London, UK (CWBN)_ As the number of Covid-19 infections in the UK flew past the 1 million milestone, PM Boris Johnson and British Government were forced to extend Tier III lockdown measures throughout England to counter the second wave of infections.
The lockdown forced all businesses to shut down operations and brace for impact, during an economic recession and critical-position in UK-EU relationships. However, in the last 10 months too many businesses have closed down completely, costing jobs and affecting household expenses, including rent payments and utilities.
Fortunately, the Financial Conduct Authority has provided payment breaks for loans, credit cards, renting services, motor finance, pay-later schemes, pawning services, high-cost, short term credit and mortgages. Additionally, the furlough scheme would be extended to further support over 9 million jobs country-wide and those who are self-employed.
With circumstances taking a turn for the worse, businesses have obtained over the first eight months this year have gone up to 43.2 billion GBP from 8.8 billion GBP recorded in 2019. Government banks were among the leading loan providers, according to statistics.
While a few large firms have been able to carry out loan repayments, the majority of companies have been unable to do so, since the peak in borrowing reported in March and borrowing rates are expected to drop 6% over the years to come, for the first time since 2011.
Meanwhile, after the massive drop of 19.5% in local GDP reported in April, followed by a 9.1% rise in late June, meaning that the economy still has a long way to go before it could catch up with the losses made thus far, despite meagre growth rates noted in the past months.
