Rishi Sunak confirms furlough scheme to be gradually withdrawn

Chancellor says businesses will be meeting 20% of wage bill for 8.4m workers by October

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Rishi Sunak has confirmed the Treasury is to gradually withdraw its job retention scheme over the next five months, with businesses meeting 20% of the wage bill for their furloughed staff by October.

Taxpayers have been meeting the wage bill for 8.4 million workers, at a cost of about 14bn a month, since March. The scheme was aimed at preventing mass layoffs, as lockdown restrictions caused large parts of the economy to shut down.