Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help support businesses which are coming to the end of fixed-term loans with increases in interest rates in Northern Ireland.

I would encourage businesses coming to the end of fixed term rates to explore UK Finance’s Business Current Account Finder tool, which was designed to help businesses compare the full range of accounts available to find products that best suit their needs – including business loans.

The Government has taken unprecedented steps to protect millions of businesses across the UK both following the outbreak of Covid-19, and more recently high energy prices. Latest measures include:

• Extending the Recovery Loan Scheme until June 2024, providing businesses with up to £2 million of government guaranteed finance.
• Increasing the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000, which means that businesses and charities who had employer NICs bills of £100,000 or less in the previous tax year will be able to claim up to £5,000 off their employer NICs bills.
• Businesses will also benefit from the cut to the duty rate on petrol and diesel by 5p per litre until March 2024 and the cancelling of the planned inflation increase this year.