Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme have been allocated to businesses since that scheme was announced.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) opened for applications on 23 March. On 3 April it was significantly expanded along with changes to the scheme’s features and eligibility criteria to allow more SMEs to access the scheme. As of Tuesday 21 April, it has provided over £2.8 billion of lending to SMEs. Total lending under CBILS has doubled in the week from 14 April to 21 April, with an increase of £1.45 billion.