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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 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.
We are helping banks to cut interest rates on their lending
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 are helping businesses pay their staff and suppliers
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 agreed not to pay any dividends to their shareholders in 2020. We have published guidance for banks on dividends relating to their full-year 2020 results. For dividends relating to 2021 results, prudent dividends can be accrued but not paid out. In addition, we expect banks to be cautious and prudent when paying any 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.