Lockdown cavalry is coming

The 1-minute read to get the money news you need.

Bank to the rescue

The Bank of England has said it’ll pump an extra £150 billion of stimulus into the UK economy to get us through lockdown 2.0. The extra cash will come via quantitative easing (QE) which is where the Bank prints new money and uses it to buy government bonds. That pushes interest rates down making it cheaper for people and businesses to borrow.

Furlough extended?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to extend the furlough scheme again, to carry it on into the new year. It’s another U-turn from the government, who had intended to replace furlough with the less generous job support scheme (JSS). But that plan hinged on continued economic recovery - and didn’t bargain for another lockdown.

Job losses

5 big companies in hard-hit sectors of retail and air travel have all said they need to let workers go. 7,200 people are set to lose jobs from John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Clarks, Lloyd’s banking group and a caterer to BA.

Extend cosy scheme

Campaigners are calling for an extension to the green homes grant, which offers vouchers to help homeowners install new insulation and heating systems. The voucher scheme is meant to end in March, but it’s massively oversubscribed. The Climate Coalition, which represents 70 organisations, wants it to continue to 2030 so that all homes can benefit.