More than £61bn borrowed via government-backed loan schemes
At least 1.4 million UK businesses have borrowed more than £61bn from government-backed lending schemes since March, new HM Treasury figures have shown.
According to the latest data, as of 18 October 2020, £17.16bn has been lent out via the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), while £4.57bn had been lent via the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme (CLBILS).
Meanwhile, £40.2bn has been lent to small businesses through the bounce back loan scheme. This means that the total value of loans made available to UK-based businesses since March 2020 is £61.93bn.
The future fund – which has been open since May and provides government loans to innovative companies, subject to at least equal match funding from private investors – has delivered £770.8m to 745 businesses to date.
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“The banking and finance industry has provided unprecedented levels of support to help businesses through the Covid-19 crisis, with over 1.4 million firms accessing finance through government-backed lending schemes,” said Stephen Pegge, managing director of commercial finance at UK Finance.
“Financial support for businesses remains evenly spread across the country and the worst-affected sectors are receiving the strongest levels of backing from the industry.
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“Bank staff are working incredibly hard to process applications and meet significantly increased levels of demand, while carrying out the necessary anti-fraud and money laundering checks.”
The bounce back loan scheme has been by far the most widely-adopted plan, with more than 1.3 million small and micro businesses being granted loans.
Over 73,000 businesses have been given CBILS funding since March, while 623 larger businesses have benefitted from CLBILS funding.
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