United Kingdom: Boris Johnson's "Rooseveltian" plan to revive the economy

Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street in London on June 24, 2020. REUTERS / John Sibley

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A few days before a major deconfinement in England and after being very criticized for its management of the pandemic, the British Prime Minister announced on Tuesday a "Rooseveltian" construction plan to revive the economy. The strict confinement imposed throughout April translated into a 20.4% collapse in gross domestic product, a historic record.

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With our correspondent in London , Muriel Delcroix

Never short of emphatic comparisons with great historical figures, Boris Johnson promised a  properly "Rooseveltian New Deal in the United Kingdom.

We will rebuild better, greener and faster,  " proclaimed the Prime Minister who wants to speed up the construction of schools, hospitals, roads and even prisons and thus tries to put forward his campaign promise. to erase regional inequalities in the United Kingdom.

However, the some 5 billion euros that the government intends to inject into infrastructure projects are very far from equaling the "New Deal" of American President Roosevelt which had helped revive the economy of the United States after the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Above all, this plan is nothing more than a repetition of what Boris Johnson had already announced when he came to power. But the leader is facing, with the health crisis, a rampant recession which threatens to hit the country with full force in the coming months and he seeks to show that he intends to protect the population, while nine million workers are currently supported financially by the government.

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  • United Kingdom
  • Coronavirus
  • Confinement
  • Finance
  • Boris Johnson

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