Budget: Coronavirus dominates as chancellor breaks out cheque book
In a challenging economic climate dominated by uncertainty over coronavirus, the new chancellor took action to protect business – but business rates reforms have been delayed. Retail Economics chief executive Richard Lim examines the detail.
Ongoing structural upheaval, Brexit mayhem… and now this. Against a backdrop of tumble stock markets and toilet roll tantrums in supermarkets, the chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered an agressive budget centred around a £30bn fiscal stimulus package aimed at limiting the damaging effects of the coronavirus.
The blow to the economy will be inevitable. But just how serious the virus grips the UK is anyone’s guess. Sunak’s package will soften the blow in what the government (and everyone else) hopes will turn out to be a shallow, short-lived disruption. The reality is, no-one knows.
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