The government is set to unveil a scheme offering billions of pounds worth of loans to small business insurance customers, it is reported.
Ministers are expected to back the package of £20 billion of loans to small business enterprises - defined as employing 50 or fewer staff - in an attempt to boost the availability of credit to small business insurance customers across the UK.
Shadow chancellor George Osbourne said the measures have already been suggested by the Conservative party: "We have been calling on Gordon Brown to introduce [a] national loan guarantee scheme for two months and while the prime minister has dithered dozens of businesses and thousands of jobs have been lost."
Under the plans, if businesses go bust then the taxpayer will effectively foot the bill for any loan they received from the government.
Last week, the Federation of Small Businesses urged banks to pass on the interest rate cuts to struggling business insurance customers who are unable to get credit to help keep their firms afloat.
