ONE million businesses across the UK have claimed £15 billion from the UK Government's Coronavirus furlough scheme to cover the wages of 8.4 million staff unable to work during lockdown, new official figures show.
Across all the main Government aid schemes, the amount handed out totals more than £76bn.
The Treasury also revealed today that UK banks had funnelled more than £27bn to companies as part of three state-backed loan schemes since Covid-19 shut down large parts of the economy.
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Meanwhile, HM Revenue and Customs said more than £6.8bn had been claimed via 2.3m applications from those who are self-employed and unable to work.
All data covers the period from each scheme's launch to May 24.
Rishi Sunak has said he will extend the furlough scheme until the end of October with employers expected to make a contribution from August.
Further details from the Chancellor are expected to be published later this week.
The Bounce Back Loan, which was launched last, has proved the most popular. Banks have already approved £18.5bn in loans to just over 465,000 businesses up and down the country.
The scheme is open to smaller businesses which want to borrow up to 25% of their turnover, up to a maximum of £50,000, interest- and payment-free for the first year.
The Government has promised to back 100% of each Bounce Back Loan and the banks are required to only make minimum checks on borrowers.
Meanwhile, £8.2bn has been lent by banks under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme [CBILS] to 43,045 businesses.
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CBILS loans are backed up to 80% by the Government and require banks to do carry out checks on the borrowers.
A similar scheme, the CLBILS, for larger businesses, has lent £820m to 154 businesses.
In total, nearly 770,000 businesses have applied for Bounce Back Loans, while 84,607 have asked for a CBILS loan, and 502 have sought help under the CLBILS.
Most shops and plenty of other businesses across the UK have been forced to rely on the Government's support during the crisis.
But ministers will be hoping that, with most shops allowed to reopen from June 15, the economy can start to return to some normality and the Government support can be reduced.
Last week, Mr Sunak said he was not counting on the "V-shaped" recovery many had been hoping for when the country was locked down to prevent the spread of the virus.
"It is not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce-back," the Chancellor told the Lords Economic Affairs Committee, adding that the economy was likely to see a huge downturn.
"Obviously, the impact will be severe," he declared, adding: "We are likely to face a severe recession, the likes of which we have never seen."
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