Business secretary tells banks it is 'completely unacceptable' to refuse businesses government-backed loans during coronavirus crisis
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Business secretary Alok Sharma has warned banks that it is “completely unacceptable” for them to refuse government-backed loans to good businesses in peril due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Many companies have claimed they are finding it difficult if not impossible to access funds from some of the UK government’s own approved lenders including HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced an “unprecedented” £300 billion lifeline of state-backed loans to stop firms from going under during the country-wide lockdown.
It later emerged that many banks have been offering the loans with interest rates of between seven and 30 per cent, when the current base rate is just 0.1 per cent.
At this evening's Downing Street briefing Mr Sharma said it was vital that the economy is able to restart as soon as it is safe to call off some of the protective measures put in place to slow the spread of infection.
“It would be completely unacceptable if any banks were unfairly refusing funds to good businesses in financial difficulty, just as the taxpayer stepped in to help the banks back in 2008," he said.
“We will work with the banks to make sure they do everything they can to repay that favour and support the businesses and people of the United Kingdom in their time of need.
“Of course this is a brand new scheme and as with all new schemes it will not be perfect from the outset. We are listening all the time and in response to concerns that we've heard from businesses we are looking at ways in which we can ensure they get the support they need.”
