Anti-covid-19 measures mask a shift in Britain’s budget strategy
A shock-and-awe response to the virus
ON MARCH 11TH policymakers took decisive action to inoculate the economy from the effects of covid-19. The Bank of England eased monetary policy. And Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, unveiled the largest sustained fiscal loosening since the early 1990s. He announced a £30bn ($39bn), or 1.3% of GDP, giveaway for the coming year, made up of £12bn of immediate virus-related spending and £18bn of other measures. Fiscal prudence would appear to have been an early casualty of this government—and of the virus.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Economic medicine”
Britain March 14th 2020
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