An emergency sitting of Tynwald has been called, with the court due to sit at 2.30pm on Friday.

This is the second emergency sitting this week and comes at the request of Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan.

Tynwald normally only sits on the third Tuesday of each month with the House of Keys and the Legislative Council usually sitting on the other Tuesdays.

No order paper has yet been released, however it is likely that Mr Cannan will be seeking permission to launch his £100m rescue package for the Manx economy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, he announced a wage support package to help struggling businesses retain their workers with a contribution of up to £280 per week for every full time equivalent staff member for up to 12 weeks.

This is equivalent to 75% of the living wage.

The wage support will extend to all sectors of the economy with the exceptions of IT, financial services and e-gaming (where the effects of the crisis are not yet being felt so severely), and will be backdated to cover the March payroll.

The Treasury Minister said this would help companies find the ways and means to retain staff even if this means they are on reduced rates and working from home.

Mr Cannan also announced that Treasury was working with the banks over a new loan guarantee scheme with the government underwriting 80% of new lending to viable businesses to support cashflow.

Businesses will get the option of deferring any VAT payments between now and June this year, with no interest or penalties applied.

A grant scheme announced last week offering £3,000 payments to businesses in certain sectors will be extended to the self-employed and those with only one employee in those same sectors, and it will be widened to cover those employed in the smaller retail industry

A £5m special fund is being set up to help businesses such as those in the visitor accommodation sector that cannot trade during the current crisis.

Mr Cannan said a new Covid welfare benefit of £200 per week will be available from April 6 for those who suffer job loss or are unable to work as a result of coronavirus.