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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is expected to extend the Government’s coronavirus furlough scheme to September, but reduce the amount people can claim to 60% of their earnings.
According to Sky News, the move aims to prevent some 1.2 million redundancies, and comes after Sunak promised there would not be a “cliff-edge” end to the Government’s furlough scheme.
Speaking to ITV News last week, Sunak attempted to reassure a number of business groups who warned of the potential of mass redundancies if the scheme was to suddenly end and not be extended in some way past June.
Sunak said: “To anyone anxious about this I want to reassure them that there will be no cliff-edge to the furlough scheme.”
Currently there are around 6.3 million people who have been placed on the scheme, which sees the government pay 80% of employees wages up to £2500 a month, with the figure closing in on the 8.3 million that was predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibly.
If that figure is to be reached it would cost the government around £42bn over three months. As such the chancellor added that he is looking to “wind down” the scheme stating that the current situation is “not sustainable”.
