The UK is preparing to issue £45 billion of new government debt in April to provide funds to cover the measures it has announced to mitigate the financial effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK’s Debt Management Office says it plans to raise the debt in total through government bond sales over the course of April.

The DMO says the money is required to “facilitate the government’s immediate financing needs related to its interventions to support the economy through the period of disruption caused by COVID-19.”

Plans include the job protection scheme, under which the Treasury will pay 80% of wages of those furloughed during the crisis and similar measures to help the self-employed workforce.

In April last year, the DMO only issued £9.5bn of new debt.