Tory MP: Government should give fund managers £15bn to invest in SMEs

Recovery Fund mooted to drive sector growth

Conservative MP and former employee of HSBC Bim Afolami has called on the Treasury to establish a 'Recovery Fund' of £15bn, which would be allocated to FCA-regulated fund managers to invest in the shares of small- and medium-sized businesses in efforts to deliver "transformative growth after Covid-19".

The MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, who previously backed calls for post-Brexit deregulation of the City, said in a report published today (16 June) that the shares purchased by the UK Government could be sold back to the public at a later date with discounted shares offered "to lower-paid NHS workers and young people". Writing on behalf of Westminster think-tank, the Social Market Foundation, Afolami is expected to float the plan in the House of Commons later today. The report, Unlocking Britain, suggests that the £15bn would be borrowed via gilt issuance and be invested via the govern...