The Treasury spent almost half a million pounds on an unused emergency scheme for energy traders that was quietly closed earlier this year, according to a report in The Guardian.
The energy markets financing scheme (EMFS) was devised by the Treasury and the Bank of England as a £40bn government-guaranteed fund to provide stability for energy and financial markets. According to the report, the scheme was designed to offer energy traders liquidity to deal with massive margin calls – demands from brokers to deposit further cash or securities to cover possible losses – but was shut in January as a sharp fall in wholesale gas prices earlier this year eased pressure on energy firms.
The government’s spending on energy support schemes has been under intense scrutiny as households and businesses attempt to cope with the high bills inflated by the gas prices linked to the war in Ukraine. Read the full story here.
