Britain’s embattled steel industry has been thrown a lifeline after the Government quadrupled to £200m the amount they can draw under the coronavirus loans scheme.
Steel companies were already under pressure from low prices have been further hit by the economy grinding to halt, resulting in orders plunging and pushing their stretched finances to breaking point.
However, steel businesses such as Tata and Liberty have warned that the £50m limit on loans was not enough to see them through the coronavirus crisis, and they were unable to tap the loans facility aimed at larger companies because they did not have investment grade credit ratings.
The Government announced on Tuesday that CLBILS loans were being increased to 25pc of a company’s turnover, up to a maximum of £200m.