The British government is expected to announce another package to protect jobs and help businesses survive the severe economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak is scheduled to outline the measures at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the weekened
Johnson has promised further measures to ensure that we support not just businesses, but also individuals and their families to keep our economy going.
The Bank of England lowered the base interest rate to a record low of 0.1 per cent on Thursday and launched a 200-billion-pound (236-billion dollar) bond buying programme, after stock markets and the British currency recorded some of their biggest falls in decades.
Sunak announced a 30 billion pound package of extraordinary measures last week to encourage economic stability, including loans, grants and tax concessions for small businesses, and more generous sick pay for employees.
He told Parliament that the coronavirus outbreak was expected to leave up to one-fifth of people of working age, or some 6 million people, unable to work at any one time.
The government on Thursday denied reports that it plans to begin a lockdown in London in the next few days, but panic buying continued in many areas on Friday.
Johnson said nothing is ruled out, urging people to avoid non-essential social contact.
Health authorities confirmed 40 deaths on Thursday, taking Britain’s total to 144, as the number of confirmed infections rose to 3,269.
Government health experts say tens of thousands of British people are probably infected.