Chancellor Rishi Sunak will use his second financial speech of the year to set out his plans to save the economy from collapse in the wake of Coronavirus.
But is he really in a position to do that?
The speech – dubbed a ‘mini budget’ – isn’t an official ‘fiscal event’.
It’s not a budget or a spring or autumn statement, where the chancellor would usually make sweeping changes to tax and spending measures.
But the statement is expected to include a number of boosts for the economy, in a bid to prevent hundreds of thousands of job losses as the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end.
Here’s what’s rumoured to be in the chancellor’s ‘mini-budget’
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Everyone gets a £500 voucher to spend on the high street
Mr Sunak is reportedly considering a £30 billion ‘high street voucher’ scheme.
Authors of a report by the Resolution Foundation said vouchers worth £500 per adult and £250 per child could be handed out to be spent in hard-hit sectors of the economy, such as face-to-face retail, hospitality and leisure.
A massive cut in stamp duty
Most house buyers will be exempted from paying stamp duty for six months, it has been reported.
The property tax threshold could be increased as as high as £500,000 pounds in a bid to exempt most homebuyers from paying any stamp duty and kickstart the economy.
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A bonus for companies who employ trainees
More than £100 million is to be invested in traineeships for 18-24 year olds in response to the coronavirus crisis.
Businesses offering new traineeships in England will receive a £1,000 bonus per trainee under the £111 million scheme.
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A ‘Green Homes scheme’ that could help you pay for upgrades
Home owners will get £2billion of vouchers to insulate homes as part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak ’s plans to create more than 100,000 green jobs.
Hundreds of thousands of households will get grants of up to £5,000 to make their homes more environmentally friendly.
Vouchers worth up to £10,000 will be available to some of the poorest families.
The Green Homes Grant scheme — which will provide extra work for plumbers, builders and tradesmen and help the Covid-hit economy recover — will be announced in Wednesday’s mini budget.
Homeowners will be able to spend the cash on loft, wall and floor insulation, eco-friendly boilers, heat pumps, double or triple-glazed windows, low-energy lighting and energy-efficient doors.
The scheme will go live in September and, according to Treasury estimates, will save families up to £600 a year on energy bills.
Green jobs in construction, engineering and design
Some £1bn will be spent on ‘greening up’ public buildings including schools, hospitals and social housing.
And there’ll be a £50million pilot scheme to retrofit social housing with heat pumps, insulation and double glazing, to make them more environmentally friendly.
Homes are currently responsible for around a fifth of the UK’s total CO2 emissions.
