Covid-19: Cost of UK’s pandemic response climbs to £372bn
The UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has now racked up costs of £372bn, according to the latest official estimates.
In a new update to its Covid-19 cost tracker, the National Audit Office (NAO) said £372bn was the estimated total cost of emergency financial support as of May 2021.
This marks an increase of over £100bn since the last update on the figures in January.
Of the total costs, £172bn has already been reported spent. The sum also includes £26bn of government-guaranteed loans which are expected to be written off. Overall the government has backed loans worth £92bn since the start of the pandemic.
The majority of the money has been spent on emergency measures for businesses, including the furlough scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
An estimated £97bn has been pumped into extra support for health and social care, while support for other public services and emergency responses is set to total £65bn.
Support for individuals, such as the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, is forecast to cost a total of £55bn.
Meg Hillier, chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, described the £372bn total price tag as “eye-watering”.
“With such huge sums going out the door, and government guaranteeing loans worth over £90bn, government faces a long road to recovery ahead,” she said.
The Covid crisis pushed UK borrowing to more than £300bn in the 2020-2021 financial year — the country’s highest ever peacetime level.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already set out plans for tax increases as the UK recovers from the pandemic, with further hikes expected in a bid to rebalance the books.