24 Mar 2011 10:03:07

Green Investment Bank to be granted £3bn capital

The Green Investment Bank (GIB) is to receive higher initial capitalisation and will begin operating earlier than initially planned, chancellor George Osborne has announced.

In his Budget, released yesterday (March 23rd), Mr Osborne announced plans to increase capitalisation for the bank to £3 billion.

The government estimates that this funding, combined with private financing, means by 2014/15 the GIB should have helped plough £18 billion into the green infrastructure.

Borrowing powers will be granted to the bank from 2015, however, director general of the Confederation of British Industry John Cridland said that "the bank should have powers to borrow from the outset to give investors confidence".

The GIB is also set to begin operating a year earlier than planned in 2012/13.

Gaynor Hartnell , chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, welcomed the announcements related to the bank, but said they are "of limited early value given the very long delay before it can raise revenue".

"Unfortunately, there was nothing really significant in the budget to alleviate growing anxiety about the pace of delivery across the UK renewables industry," she added.