THE Government could scrap utility bills and council tax for millions of Britons, with guarantees that businesses will also not lose out in a massive rescue package aimed at fighting the impact from the coronavirus outbreak.Government economists have laid out the options as Rishi Sunak prepares to unveil financial measures to help the UK across all major sectors. A former adviser to George Osborne has indicated the government will need to splash out as much as £450billion. The Government’s own fiscal watchdog has also warned huge sums will have to be borrowed to keep UK plc afloat.Providing evidence to MPs in Westminster this morning, they warned the UK’s economy could shrink by as much as five percent and called for a “wartime” level of response
Mr Sunak is expected to unveil a plan to provide substantial help to a number of under-pressure sectors, including pubs, theatres, clubs and cinemas in order to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.
Several leading airlines are also warning they will need a multi-billion bailout to stop international travel grinding to a complete halt.
Office for Responsibility (OBR) boss Robert Chote said: "This is not the time to be squeamish about one-off additions to public sector debt.“It’s more like a wartime situation - that this is money well spent.”
OBR committee member Charles Bean, who also is a former Deputy Governor at the Bank of England, urged the Government to cover the full impact of the economic hit.
He said: “You could say to businesses, what was your revenue last over the last year, we will fill any shortfall last year.
Fellow committee member Andy King also suggested the prospect of “paying people’s utility bills, paying their council tax bills”.