Carney backs government support for energy users during gas price crisis
Mark Carney believes the UK government should support energy users hit by rapidly rising energy costs.
With gas prices soaring to record levels, the former governor of the Bank of England appeared to lend his support to the Prime Minister’s upcoming bail-out plans for businesses.
The government is set to provide state loans to struggling businesses totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.
Speaking to Sky News at the broadcaster’s Big Ideas Live event, Carney reiterated that a net zero economy was crucial to maintaining expected levels of growth.
However, he feels that the growing crisis highlighted that the transition to net zero carbon emissions needed to be ‘smoother rather than choppy’.
Consequently, short-term moves to protect people suffering from domestic economic shocks such as the energy crisis would sometimes be necessary despite wider climate-change ambitions to shift energy consumption from fossil fuels.
He said: “We need to be predictable and credible, in terms of energy policy. Sometimes it is appropriate for some support, particularly for users of the energy in those sectors.”
His comments follow multiple small UK energy companies such as Igloo Energy Supply, Enstroga , and Symbio Energy collapsing last month.
While businesses are set to be provided crucial loans, after public calls for intervention by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK steel industry remains in trouble.
The sector continues to call for short-term subsidies to address energy price spikes, alongside long-term energy costs concerning the maintenance of UK plants.