First Minister Mark Drakeford is set to announce new funding to help businesses come through the coronavirus pandemic
A £1.1bn support package for the economy and public services in Wales has been unveiled.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the fighting fund was to help businesses “weather the coronavirus storm” at the daily Welsh Government briefing.
Further schemes will be announced throughout the week as part of the package of support.
It consists of cash reallocated from existing budgets and new money from the UK Treasury.
Mr Drakeford also announced that antibody tests would be coming over the next weeks or months but were not ready yet.
He paid tribute to health and social care workers and said the response from people wanting to volunteer was “amazing”.
The £1.1bn being announced is “reprioritised” money.
Unlike the UK government, the Welsh Government cannot increase the money it has available to spend.
It has gone though every line of ministerial budgets and has moved money from there and prioritised it for fighting the health and economic impacts of coronavirus.
For instance, it has taken money from the international relations budget and from a budget for enforcement cameras on the highways, as people are not meant to be driving much anyway.
The BBC understands that about 25% of the £1.1bn is from its existing budget.
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Cafes and bars are particularly at risk from the tight restrictions
About 25% is EU money that has been “repurposed”, for example, money that would have been used for business start-ups which are unlikely in the near future.
Half of the £1.1bn comes from the consequential of what has been announced in Westminster, for example, money for the health service or railways.
However the Welsh Government, unlike the UK government, is not giving rate relief to the very biggest of properties, such as the biggest Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
That money – approximately £12m – which, in England, would have gone to those big business sites, will fund other businesses, social enterprises and charities.
The £1.1bn announced on Monday is in addition to the £1.4bn announced by Economy Minister Ken Skates earlier.
Prioritise existing funds
Mr Drakeford announced severe restrictions on people and businesses last Monday, including shutting all high street shops except those selling food, as well as pharmacies, banks and post offices.
The Welsh Government’s cabinet met last week to discuss how to prioritise its existing funds.
It has already been announced Welsh ministers will invest £1.4bn to help companies through grants and business rate relief.
Economy Minister Ken Skates previously said the Welsh Government would match plans announced by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak to help English businesses.
It included a business rate holiday for all firms in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors for 12 months and funding grants of between £10,000 and £25,000 for small businesses.
But the Welsh Government has since decided not to give business rate relief to the “fewer than 200 properties across Wales” with a rateable value of £500,000 and above.
The money will instead be used to create a £100m fund to help other businesses, social enterprises and charities during the coronavirus crisis.
In a joint statement, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans and Mr Skates said the businesses affected by the decision would be able to apply for extra support.
Businesses will start to receive the emergency funds by the middle of the week.
Last week, the UK government announced a scheme to pay 80% of the wages of employees unable to work during the crisis and a separate package allowing self-employed workers to apply for a grant worth 80% of their average monthly profits.
