The UK announced a big state spending program on
Wednesday as it plans to overcome the ravages of the coronavirus and enter the
post-Brexit world next year, AFP reported.

The country aims to revive the economy with more public spending, despite soaring debts.

The spending plan was unveiled by Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi
Sunak, who confirmed a 3 billion pound ($3.9 billion) spending cushion for the
National Health Service (NHA) employees.

Since the pandemic began early in the year, Britain’s
economy has shrunk by 11.3%. It is expected to recover by 5.5% next year and 6.6% by
2022, according to an estimate.

The UK is set for a major public spending owing to the pandemic
which sucked the resources out of the economy, sending the country into a
recession not seen in at least last 300 years.

The country plans to make its biggest borrowings since the
World War II, with attempts afoot to leverage it by 400 billion pounds ($531.28
billion), it has been reported.

“Our health emergency is not yet over and our economic
emergency has only just begun,” Sunak said as he unveiled the latest
spending of the conservative government.

“So our immediate priority is to protect people’s lives
and livelihoods,” he added.

Also read: No austerity measures for Britain: Finance Minister Rishi Sunak

According to the plan, the government is going to spend 55
billion pounds on public services linked to coronavirus next year, it was announced.

The chancellor said that though the government would give
pay rises to more than one million nurses, doctors and others working for the
state health service, the offer could not be extended to other public-sector
workers, according to the AFP report.

“Coronavirus has deepened the disparity between public
and private sector wages,” Sunak said.

“And unlike workers in the private sector who have lost
jobs, been furloughed, seen wages cut and hours reduced — the public sector
has not.”

The spending plan was unveiled a week before the UK comes
out of its second lockdown imposed on October 31. The country, set to
celebrate Christmas later that month, is likely to bear with continued restrictions despite the end of the lockdown– as Sunak said earlier, this won’t
be a “normal” Christmas this year.

The spending plan also included an investment of 16 billion
pounds – to be spent over four years– into the defence fortifications, to spruce them up with modern tech and cyber warfare.

As per the official data shows UK state debt has exceeded 2 trillion pounds for the first time, AFP wrote.

Britain has so far registered almost 56,000 deaths, becoming
the one of the worst-affected country in terms of deaths per capita.