Chancellor Rishi Sunak is being urged to unveil a cash injection worth £200 billion in order to help rebuild the UK economy after the coronavirus crisis.
The Chancellor is due to make a statement in the House of Commons on Wednesday outlining his plan to create jobs, upgrade buildings and protect the environment.
And part of those plans could include a £30 billion scheme that would save hundreds of thousands of jobs and prevent the demise of the UK high street.
The scheme involves a new £500 shopping initiative that would give all adults and children 'free' vouchers to help restart the economy, following the Covid-19 lockdown.
Under the proposals, every adult would be given £500 and every child £250, to help inject much-needed cash back into the high street, reports Mirror Online.
The Resolution Foundation, the think-tank which suggested the idea ahead of Wednesday's Budget, said the vouchers would be valid in sectors that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic, such as face-to-face retail, the arts, hospitality and leisure.
The vouchers would be universal, delivered as coupons or smartcards and activated over 12 months.
It said the money would be delivered as vouchers, instead of cash, to encourage people to “spend not save.”
It would also be a one-off, non-refundable £500 - as opposed to several monthly payments.
The report authors said: "The voucher scheme can target the parts of the economy where the problems are – bricks and mortar consumption in shops and restaurants, rather than online sales – and recognises the different impact of the crisis on poor and rich families."
