As part of today’s Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has pledged to support households struggling with debt.
Prioritising “lower taxes and higher growth,” Hunt remained positive regarding economic outlook, “despite challenging economic headwinds.”
To alleviate cost of living pressures on households, he extended the Household Support Fund, which was meant to conclude next month.
The fund was extended for a further six months.
In addition, the Chancellor increased the loan repayment period for households in debt to 24 months.
With heartening statistic from the OBR, which forecast inflation hitting 2% “in just a few months time,” Hunt set out further support for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
To alleviate current pressures upon business owners, the Government will provide £200m in funding to extend the Recovery Loan Scheme as it transitions to the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
According to Hunt, this move will help a further 11,000 SMEs access the finance that they need.
Theo Chatha, CFO of Bibby Financial Services (BFS), said: “Today’s budget was a fine balancing act of managing the UK’s fiscal position, while stimulating growth.
“While the small business community will breathe a sigh of relief at the 2-year extension of the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) announced today, more needs to be done to support UK SMEs to grow and thrive amid a tough credit environment.
“The reality is that high-street support for these businesses is fading, and without this, SMEs – 99.9% of the country’s private sector – will be unable to deliver the growth the country needs.
“We would urge policy makers and the British Business Bank to reinvigorate the underused Bank Referral Scheme to direct SMEs to alternative funding providers.
“Though economic forecasts are showing signs of improvement, the next six months will be critical to returning the UK to sustainable growth.
“Access to a wider array of financing options for SMEs must be at the heart of this.”
