British businesses have asked the government to release an additional 7.6 billion pounds worth of emergency financial aid, maintaining that a wait until Finance Minister Rishi Sunak presents the budget in March is not possible. The second wave of the pandemic that forced Britain to go back into lockdown has raised uncertainty for businesses even as they try to adapt to Brexit, and the government support has become even more crucial to their futures, as a result.

So far, the government has already unleashed 280 billion pounds worth of stimulus measures which are expected to drive Britain’s deficit to a record high at peacetime. However, several stakeholders, including from within his own party have been pressing Sunak to unleash more stimulus measures.

Director-General at the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker, stated, “We just have to finish the job. Now would be a very odd time to end that support. The rule of thumb must be that business support remains in parallel to restrictions and that those measures do not come to a sudden stop.”

The CBI has called for an extension of the government’s job retention scheme at least until June, following which it should offer targeted aid to most severely affected sectors that could take longer to recover. In addition, the industry group has called for an extension on time for businesses to pay back VAT that was deferred during the previous year, and also implement an extension on exemption of business rates tax for businesses and their suppliers that were forced to close during the lockdowns.