MOSCOW: The United Kingdom spent almost 40 billion pounds sterling (US$50.2 billion), which is an all-time high for the country, to help households and businesses pay energy bills during the colder months amid economic crisis, the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said on Thursday.
Due to the “unprecedented turmoil” in global energy markets, annual energy bills in the UK surged to almost 4,300 pounds sterling, the ministry said, adding that the government allocated 39.3 billion pounds from October 2022 to March 2023 in financial support, which covered almost one-half of household bills and provided additional assistance to people.
That was the highest amount ever provided to subsidise household bills in UK history, the ministry said.
Most of the allocated funds (about 21 billion pounds) were spent to freeze the household energy price cap at 2,500 pounds a year, the ministry said, adding that another 12 billion pounds were used to provide households with an energy price reduction of 400 pounds.
Over 5 billion pounds were allocated to help businesses, and more than 930 million pounds went to other support measures, the ministry said.
The UK, along with other European countries, has been facing inflation and a massive energy crisis as part of the post-pandemic global economic recession.
The situation has been further exacerbated against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis as hostilities and Western sanctions against Moscow have led to disruptions of supply chains and resulted in a spike in energy prices worldwide. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
