Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday in the House of Commons offered some frank discussion of the difficult economic decisions in the months ahead. The first hour of this Parliamentary TV video is his presentation and Q&A (there are also a number of uploads on YouTube, easy to find).
He also confirmed that he will extend 100% government guarantees to the smallest microbusinesses, expected to start next week (so called bounce back loans) though details are still sketchy.
I have not yet listened to all of this, but the overriding impression: moving to the new normal, minimising economics costs and scarring, ensuring as strong a bounce back as possible is going to be far from easy.
An illustration is the difficulties involved in the transition from temporary emergency suppor for employment provided by the furlough scheme, to ensuring the financial and other support for rebuilding the economy post-pandemic. An abrupt end could undo all the benefits, but keeping the scheme for months could involve unacceptable fiscal cost.