Budget 2021: Sunak pledges £22bn for new infrastructure bank
Rishi Sunak will use Wednesday’s Budget to announce billions of pounds of funding for the UK’s new infrastructure bank, which is due to launch in the spring.
Announced as part of November’s spending review, the bank is part of Sunak’s pledge to provide “once in a generation” investment into the UK’s infrastructure.
The Treasury said that the Chancellor would announce an initial £12bn in capital investment, as well as £10bn in loan guarantees.
It added that the money would help generate private investment to go towards a £40bn infrastructure spending spree.
Fixing the UK’s infrastructure as part of a levelling-up push is a central tenet of the government’s plans to kickstart the economy after the coronavirus pandemic.
Sunak said: “We are backing this Bank with the finance it needs to deliver modern infrastructure fit for the 21st century and create jobs.
“This shows how serious we are about levelling up the country so that everybody can benefit from our future prosperity.”
Henri Murison, director of Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: “Unlocking £40bn of investment through the new Northern-based Infrastructure Bank, including a dedicated £4bn for local government, will go a long way to driving up productivity and levelling up.”
In addition to the infrastructure funding, which was first reported by the Telegraph, the Chancellor is also expected to commit a further £375m to co-invest alongside the private sector in high-growth firms.
The ‘Future Fund: Breakthrough’ programme, as the scheme is known, is a successor to last year’s Future Fund programme.
It will help provide financing for firms working in fields such as life sciences, quantum computing, or clean tech.