Stuart Law welcomes extension of coronavirus loan schemes

Assetz Capital chief executive Stuart Law has welcomed the extension of the Covid-19 emergency loan schemes.

Last week, the government extended the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), bounce back loan scheme (BBLS) and coronavirus large business interruption scheme (CLBILS) from their deadline of 31 January 2021 to 31 March 2021.

Assetz was the second peer-to-peer lending platform accredited to CBILS.

Read more: Assetz Capital promises ‘significant CBILS funding’

“I welcome the extension, the country absolutely needs it, there will be enormous downwards pressure from Brexit and for a long time to come, from the virus,” said Law (pictured).

“This year we will end up somewhere around a 11 per cent drop in GDP and next year I think we’ll be lucky to get growth above four per cent.

“We’re a long way from where we used to be so I think businesses need all the financial support they can get.”

Law said the government will likely introduce the new replacement scheme it mentioned in September, once the current support comes to an end.

Read more: Assetz to start reducing lender fee from February

“I think we could still have CBILS in place next summer,” he said.

“The new scheme, which is supposed to be nearly just as good, will replace CBILS and kick in when it ends I think.

“The government has to reach a point where they are not paying the subsidiary for businesses which is what CBILS is doing.

“Personally, I can’t see it being sensible for pubs and restaurants to be open again until we have substantial vaccinations and that’s a long time away in the future. The outlook for the hospitality industry does not look very good.”

Read more: P2P lenders get ready for CBILS successor scheme

According to the latest data from the Treasury, more than £68bn has been delivered to businesses via CBILS, CLBILS and BBLS in the year to date.