Britain announced on Thursday that it will continue to heavily subsidise millions of workers’ wages until the end of April, extending its furlough coronavirus jobs support scheme by one month.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak also extended the UK government’s business loan scheme – and added that he will present his next budget on March 3, 2021.

“The furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021 with the government continuing to contribute 80 per cent towards wages – giving businesses and employees across the UK certainty into the New Year,” the Treasury said in a statement.

“In a move to ensure firms can access the support they need through continuing economic disruption, Rishi Sunak also confirmed he would be extending the government-guaranteed COVID-19 business loan schemes until the end of March.”

The furlough plan, first introduced as the UK entered an initial lockdown earlier this year, had already been extended from October to March due to worsening turmoil sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent data showed that 9.9 million people have benefitted from furlough, at a cost to the government of £46.4 billion (€51.4bn).

9.9 million people have benefitted from furlough, at a cost to the government of €51.4bn

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic pushed Britain into a historic recession.

Many economists are fearful that a ‘no deal’ Brexit at the end of this year could prompt a damaging double-dip downturn.

Official data showed earlier this week that Britain’s unemployment rate has struck a four-year peak after coronavirus wiped out a record amount of jobs.

The rate – or proportion of the workforce that is unemployed – hit 4.9 per cent in the three months to the end of October.

The number of total redundancies across all sectors meanwhile soared by a record 370,000.

In response to this year’s deadly health crisis, the UK government has so far spent £300 billion in emergency measures to stem chronic economic fallout, sending the deficit and public debt soaring.

Britain expects the economy to slump by 11.3 per cent this year, before a 5.5-per cent rebound in 2021.