סונאַק פּלעדזשז £ 30 צו סטאַמז אַרבעטלאָזיקייַט קריזיס

Britain’s finance minister has promised an additional £30 billion to head off an unemployment crisis, funnelling money to employers, homebuyers and beleaguered hospitality firms to drive a recovery, שרייַבן אַנדי ברוס און David Milliken.

With close to 45,000 confirmed coronavirus-linked deaths, Britain has been hit harder by the pandemic than any other European country, leaving many people reluctant to return to life as before.

Sunak’s plan includes a £2bn ($2.5bn) fund to create six-month work placement jobs for unemployed 16-24 year-olds and more government-funded apprenticeships.

A further £3bn will be spent on improving the energy efficiency of homes and public buildings, which would support more than 100,000 jobs.

The £30bn cost of the plan includes around £5.6bn in accelerated infrastructure spending announced last week by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Some employers had urged Sunak to go further by cutting the social security contributions they must pay for their workers.

In a bid to breathe life into the housing market and the broader economy, Sunak raised the lower threshold for a tax on property purchases to £500,000, four times its current level, with immediate effect until 31 March.

Economists said the plan was unlikely to accelerate Britain’s recovery from the crisis.

“Overall this wasn’t a massive fiscal package, with other countries like Germany announcing much larger fiscal packages,” Jing Teow, an economist at PwC, said.

As well the uncertainties about how the pandemic will proceed, Sunak has to contend with the possibility London and Brussels fail to agree a post-Brexit trade deal by the end of this year.

“The chancellor is likely keeping his powder dry until the autumn,” Teow said, referring to a formal budget statement Sunak is due to deliver in late 2020.

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