We have put in place a package of measures that will help keep firms in business and people in jobs and help minimise the longer-term damage to the economy when Covid-19 subsides.
We are also working closely with HM Government so we can co-ordinate what we do and make sure it has maximum impact.
You can find details of Government support for people and businesses in the related links section.
Lower interest rates will mean cheaper loans for businesses and households. That will reduce the costs faced by businesses and households in the UK.
We’re offering banks and building societies long-term funding at interest rates at, or close to, 0.1%. This will reduce the interest rates they charge you.
More funding will be given to banks that increase their lending. And we are providing additional support to banks that offer more lending to small and medium-sized companies. These firms often need more support in times like these.
We’re working closely with HM Government to support large businesses by offering them cash for their corporate debt. This will help them to keep paying wages and their suppliers, even if they have serious cash flow problems.
And it means banks and building societies can use the funding help we’ve given them to focus on supporting small and medium-sized companies.
We have reduced the amount of financial resources (called capital) that banks and building societies need to set against their lending to UK businesses and households.
UK banks have agreed that they will not pay any dividends to their shareholders that were still due from 2019, and will not pay any new dividends until the end of 2020. In addition, we do not expect banks to pay cash bonuses to their senior staff.
This will support up to £190 billion of bank lending to businesses which is more than 13 times the net amount they lent in 2019.
We are letting firms focus on you by temporarily reducing the regulatory burden we place on them.
