The Government has pledged to spend more than £124 billion in its response to the coronavirus crisis, the spending watchdog has said.
A National Audit Office (NAO) report found that ministers made more than 500 announcements between January 31 and May 4 on its response to the pandemic.
Of the £124.3 billion of programmes, initiatives and spending commitments, £111.3 billion was for grants and other payments, £5 billion for loans and £8 billion for increases to benefits.
The figure does not include the loss of receipts to the Treasury worth an estimated £4.4 billion – mostly from deferred tax payments.
Among the spending commitments made by the Government is £6.6 billion for health and social care measures, £82.2 billion for businesses, £19.5 billion to support individuals such as through benefits, and £15.8 billion on other public services.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “The scale and nature of the Covid-19 pandemic and Government’s response is unprecedented in recent history.
“This report outlines the range of measures taken by Government to date and where financial support has been targeted.
“It also forms the basis for a substantial programme of independent reports from the National Audit Office to Parliament and the public on how the money has been spent and the lessons learned.”
