Originally Posted by
Confus
Not that I want to let facts get in the way of a rant... but this is not strictly true, is it? BA has not received billions from the government. They have received a loan from a consortium of banks, which if they can’t repay will be covered by the government. So if the government ever has to pay up, we’ll all have much bigger things to worry about.
Using the strength of HMG's balance sheet is a direct subsidy, if it wasn't available the consortium of banks would have charged higher rates for the debt or perhaps not provided the financing at all and who knows what BA would have done then to raise cash....sell assets into a depressed market?