The Scottish Government has unveiled a new £80 million COVID-19 support package for Scottish businesses and communities.

The COVID economic recovery fund will go to councils that will have oversight as to how the funding will be spent.

The money is made up of remaining funds from the £375m omicron business support package.

The Scottish Government also allocated £3m to the city centre recovery fund, which supports economic recovery for seven city local authority areas.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have benefited from more than £4.4 billion in support from the Scottish Government.

Andrew McRae, Scotland's policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said:

"Independent businesses across Scotland will take heart when they learn that cash has been allocated to accelerate local recovery.

"Governments must look at ways to relieve the immense pressure that rising overheads are putting on firms, and at the very least avoid making matters worse."

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