Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced £330bn of financial support for the economy and promised to work with transport secretary Grant Shapps on a rescue package for airlines and airports.
He said he would provide 'whatever it takes' to help the country through the coronavirus pandemic - hinting that the full price tag could be even higher.
A day after the French president announced a similar funding package for France, the UK public was widely expecting Mr Sunak to go further than the support in last week's Budget.
The construction industry had already told Transport Network that it was hoping for a large scale announcement on a par with France's in order to tackle a potentially devastating loss of output.
Mr Sunak announced '£330bn of government-backed and guaranteed loans equivalent to 15% of GDP', making the national rescue package even larger than France's.
The chancellor added that he was prepared to go further if there was higher demand.
He highlighted that he could take advantage of a clause in the Covid-19 Bill in Parliament to provide whatever financial support he felt necessary.
'Any business who needs access to cash to pay rent, suppliers or purchase stock will be able to access a government-backed loan or credit on attractive terms,' he said.
'To support liquidity among larger firms, I have today agreed a new lending facility with the governor of the Bank of England to provide low cost easily accessible commercial paper. To support SMEs I am extending the new business interruption loan scheme I announced at Budget last week.
'Rather than loans of £1.2m it will now provide loans of up to £5m with no interest due in the first six months. Both of these schemes will be up and running by the start of next week.'
For the airlines and airports, many of which have cut services by up to 80%, Mr Sunak said that he would sit down with Mr Shapps in the next few days to iron out a financial support package.
The retail, hospitality or leisure sectors, which are among the most at risk of collapse, were given a year-long business rates holiday.
On top of that, businesses in those sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000 can now receive a £25,000 cash grant, which does not have to be repaid.
The chancellor also confirmed that the Government's actions 'would allow businesses to make an insurance claim' if the insurance policy covers pandemics.
Households received a boost as mortgage lenders are to offer a three-month mortgage holiday.
For employees, Mr Sunak said that he was working with unions on an offer of greater employment support.
Local authorities will also be compensated for these measures, Mr Sunak said and, as per the Barnett formula, the devolved nations will receive their share.
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