The UK government’s new national infrastructure bank has reiterated its plan to commit £22bn (€25.6bn) to projects over the next five to eight years.
The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), which has closed 7 deals worth £610m in projects since its launch a year ago, said it expects to deploy £8bn in debt and equity, £10bn in guarantees and £4bn for local authority lending.
UKIB said its strategic plan involves investing in other key sectors for the UK’s economic future across transport, digital, water and waste, financing the “scale-up of existing infrastructure and accelerating the deployment of new technologies”.
UKIB’s CEO John Flint, said: “We want our investments to shape the future and, for the first time, we’re highlighting where we expect the biggest investment opportunities will be to deliver on our mission to tackle climate change and regional inequalities.
“The war in Ukraine is an economic earthquake that underlines our mission and the strategic importance of energy security to the UK’s economic future. Rising energy bills also show how in the long-term we need to increase our domestic supply of energy.
“We cannot achieve this alone. Across the breadth of our mission we want to work with partners in the public and private sector to identify where our investment can make the most impact.”
The bank’s advisory function will launch this summer, with targeted pilot projects developed over the next 6 months to test how it can best add value.
Chris Grigg, chair of UKIB, said the progress made by the UKIB in its first year goes to show the bank can have a real impact on infrastructure across the UK.
“Needless to say, however, there is much still to be done. As our excellent group of new non-executive directors and executives arrive over the summer, they have a real opportunity and indeed responsibility to drive the continued roll-out of the Bank’s strategy and to help it deliver on its core mission.”
Economic secretary to the UK Treasury, John Glen said: “A year after its launch, it’s great to see the bank delivering on its mandate to accelerate investment in infrastructure, helping to level up across the UK and tackle climate change.
“This new strategic plan sets out how the bank will deploy £22bn of investment into the UK economy over the coming years, boosting growth and supporting jobs.”
UKIB was announced as part of the government’s national infrastructure strategy in 2020 and was launched in June last year.
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