U.K. taxpayers might face losses of 80% from the coronavirus lending program supporting small business.In the most detailed assessment to date of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme, the National Audit Office said Wednesday that the worst-case loss estimate had increased from 60%, stoked by the potential for the Covid-19 crisis to last longer and take a greater toll on the economy.The state watchdog compiled figures from various arms of the U.K.
government and assumed smaller businesses will have borrowed about 43 billion pounds ($56 billion) -- the midpoint of a range of estimates -- through the program by its Nov.