Britain mulling loans to energy suppliers

Prepares options to support people facing soaring energy bills

LONDON:

The British government’s options to support people facing sky-rocketing energy bills include handing loans to energy suppliers that could cut bills by up to 500 pounds ($587) a year, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday.

Britain’s energy regulator said on Friday energy bills will jump 80% to an average of 3,549 pounds a year from October, spurring calls for urgent government support to households and businesses.

Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi has prepared a range of options for government support that the next prime minister, who will take office in early September, can consider, the Telegraph said.

Zahawi told the Telegraph he had been working on a plan to help energy suppliers with loans to provide them greater liquidity in a move that could “put a downward pressure on the price cap by anywhere between (400 and 500 pounds).”

The idea, previously rejected, was now “back on the table”, the newspaper reported. Increases in wholesale prices are passed on to British consumers through a price cap, calculated every three months.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2022.

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