UK readies infrastructure plan to boost labour market

[LONDON] Britain on Monday launched the latest phase of a multi-billion-pound infrastructure plan which it hopes will boost the pandemic-hit labour market.

The UK government's Treasury said it would invest £200 billion (S$371.8 billion) of both public and private sector funds in national infrastructure projects by 2025.

The tranche of cash will "will support 425,000 jobs a year" over the next four years, the Treasury added in a statement.

The investment will comprise almost £70 billion for transport, more than £50 billion for energy, and some £40 billion for utilities.

The move is part of broader plans to plough £650 billion in private and public money into infrastructure over the next decade.

The money will help create "new opportunities for thousands of apprentices, technicians, graduates and skilled workers", the Treasury noted.

Monday's announcement comes on the eve of Britain's latest official monthly labour market data.

The government's costly furlough scheme, which supported millions of private-sector jobs during the pandemic, is set to finish at the end of this month.

Economists fear the move will likely risk a spike in unemployment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative government has so far spent £68.5 billion on the furlough scheme, protecting 11.6 million jobs - or more than a third of UK workers.

AFP