Wave of COVID19 bad debt coming

UK Treasury and banks in talks on coming wave of bad Covid debt The FT reports that the Treasury is in talks with banks about an industry-wide plan to help tackle the £16bn in bad debts expected from the “bounce back” loans scheme. The Times says the Chancellor is understood to be reluctant to write off the debt as it would be unfair on those businesses that struggled on without loans. The Federation of Small Businesses has suggested that repayment conditions should be relaxed. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the federation, said: “A guarantee that they won’t have to start making repayments until they’re turning a profit would give them the confidence to invest and hire today, rather than further down the line, when [it] may prove too little too late.”