Banks are braced for a flood of small business customers topping up bounce back loans tomorrow when Rishi Sunak reopens the Covid-19 rescue scheme, even after a £38bn lending spree.
The chancellor was forced to allow top-up loans and extend the new applications deadline from November to January after England was plunged into a fresh lockdown last week.
NatWest estimated that about a third of its existing bounce back loan scheme (BBLS) customers — almost 100,000 businesses — could be eligible for a top-up because they did not borrow the full £50,000 the first time around, or reach the 25%-of-revenue threshold.
The bank, more than 60% owned by taxpayers, has already lent about £8bn of BBLS loans, which are 100% state-guaranteed. The scheme has been
