Business
‘Bus fares eat my budget’: Under-22s join call for free travel
Business reporter
Maisy MoazzenkiviYoung people have told the BBC the “extortionate” cost of bus travel in England means they socialise less and struggle to pay rent.
A report by MPs has recommended everyone under the age of 22 should get free bus travel to help them get into work and education – similar to in Scotland.
The Department for Transport says it is already spending “£1bn in multi-year funding to improve the reliability and frequency of bus services across the country”.
But the BBC has heard from people aged 22 and under who say bus fares are too expensive and eat into their food budget.
‘I get hungry at college but can’t afford snacks’
Maisy MoazzenkiviMaisy Moazzenkivi, 18, lives in Coventry with her mum, dad and brother, and travels almost two hours each way to get to college, four days a week.
Maisy, has a disability bus pass because of her autism, meaning she pays less for travel than her friends. However, she still spends £8 a day on getting to college as her free travel allowance only kicks in after 09:30, half an hour after she needs to be there.
She says money she spends on travel eats into what she would otherwise spend on food and snacks throughout the day.
“Sometimes, when I finish college I’m really hungry and just want to get a meal deal or something for the way home, but it’s so expensive on top of everything. I’m very lucky that I can go home and my family can feed me, but not everyone has that.”
If bus travel was free, Maisy says she would be able to socialise more, and save for “luxury items”.
“I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, or an essential item, but one day, I’d love to save for a Juicy Couture tracksuit,” she said.
‘I don’t understand how it’s so extortionate’
Gracie MooreGracie Moore, 22, lives in Slough and catches the bus every day to and from work, which costs her £120 a month.
“For someone who is not earning much more than minimum wage, it’s quite a big expenditure,” says Gracie who works as an administration assistant for a care home firm.
She says the high cost of travel for young people makes it difficult to navigate having a job and a social life.
Travel costs are “absolutely” a factor which stop her from moving out from her family home, she says.
“I have less independence this way, but I’m paying so much less.”
Gracie previously lived in Madrid, where she enjoyed unlimited travel on bus, train, tube, and tram) for only €8 (£6.90) a month with a young person’s travel card.
“I don’t understand how it’s so extortionate here when other countries in Europe subsidise it so well,” she says. “I just don’t know how the price of transport here can be justified.”
‘Free bus pass would make a big difference’
Nikita UpretiOriginally from Nepal, Nikita Upreti, 20, is an international student studying at University College Birmingham. She says the rising price of travel means it is getting “harder” to pay for her bus pass each month.
When Nikita first moved to Birmingham in September 2024, a monthly bus pass with a student discount cost her £49. Now, it costs her £53.
“The student discount is not helping us anymore,” she says.
Nikita also works 20 hours a week as a waitress. Despite working the maximum amount of hours her university will allow her to while studying, she still struggles to pay her rent while juggling the rising cost of living.
She says that free bus travel “would make a big difference” to her life.
“I could spend the money I save on groceries and things that would help my education. It would be really helpful.”
Business
Budget 2026 Should Support MSMEs, Critical Minerals For Boosting Trade Resilience: Deloitte
Last Updated:
Deloitte India urges FY27 Budget to boost MSME support and critical mineral security, job protection and advancing India’s global manufacturing and clean energy goals.
Budget 2026 Expectations.
Budget 2026: Deloitte India has pitched a sharper focus on MSME support and critical mineral security in the FY27 Union Budget, arguing that these measures are essential to strengthen India’s trade resilience and reduce external vulnerabilities amid rising global uncertainty.
In its Budget expectations note, Deloitte India said micro, small and medium enterprises play a pivotal role in the economy, accounting for nearly 46% of India’s exports and emerging as the second-largest employer after agriculture. According to the firm, easing financial and compliance-related pressures on MSMEs would help them cope with global volatility, sustain production and remain competitive in overseas markets.
The Union Budget 2026-27 will be tabled on Sunday, February 1.
“Strengthening MSMEs will safeguard jobs and drive inclusive economic growth, boost rural incomes and support India’s ambition to become a global manufacturing hub,” Deloitte said.
The firm recommended measures such as enhanced export credit availability, concessional financing and simplified digital compliance systems to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. It also called for comprehensive training programmes to improve last-mile competitiveness of MSMEs, particularly those linked to global value chains.
Deloitte further suggested targeted export incentives or enhanced duty drawback support for tariff-sensitive sectors such as ready-made garments, gems and jewellery, and leather, which are more vulnerable to global trade disruptions.
Highlighting the risks from an increasingly protectionist global environment, Deloitte Economist Rumki Majumdar said rising uncertainty from tariff hikes, changes in rules of origin and non-tariff barriers could disproportionately affect Indian exporters. While the direct impact of global trade frictions on GDP growth may be limited to 40-80 basis points, the spillover effects on MSMEs and employment could be far more severe.
“MSMEs contribute 30.1 per cent to GDP, account for 45.79 per cent of India’s exports and employ nearly 290 million people; disruptions in export markets or tightening trade rules pose serious risks to jobs and income stability,” Majumdar said.
Beyond MSMEs, Deloitte emphasised the need for a strategic push on critical minerals to secure supply chains and support India’s clean energy transition. It proposed setting up a dedicated critical minerals fund to finance overseas acquisitions and technology partnerships, ensuring long-term access to essential resources.
The firm also recommended deeper global collaboration with regions such as Africa, Australia and Latin America to secure upstream access to minerals, alongside joint research and development in mineral processing and recycling. In addition, it called for incentives to promote investments in renewable energy, green hydrogen and grid-scale energy storage.
Deloitte said expanded funding for exploration, extraction and processing of key critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt and rare earth magnets, would be crucial to reduce import dependence and strengthen India’s strategic and economic security in the years ahead.
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January 16, 2026, 15:02 IST
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Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday staged a strong comeback, breaking the long bearish momentum as snowballing forex reserves have lifted investor sentiment.
During intraday trading, the PSX’s benchmark KSE-100 index gained a whopping 3,146.23 points to climb to 184,602.56 points, marking a positive change of 1.70%.
Out of 562 active companies, share prices of 375 advanced and of 67 declined while rates of 120 companies remained unchanged.
Economic analysts said the uptick offered some breathing space for the economy, even as the country continued to keep a close watch on external inflows and outflows.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves inched up by $16 million over the past week, according to figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The central bank said its official reserves rose from $16.0557 billion to $16.0718 billion, showing a modest gain during the week.
Overall, the country’s total reserves climbed to $21.2484 billion.
The State Bank also noted that commercial banks’ holdings went up by $5.6 million, reaching $5.1927 billion.
The central bank projects the FY26 current account deficit at 0–1% of GDP and sees reserves at $17.8 billion by June 2026 with planned official inflows.
A day earlier, the stock exchange dropped by over 1,100 points due to massive selling pressure.
The PSX had extended losses after recording an increase for a brief period as investors seemed cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions involving Iran.
During intraday trading, the KSE-100 index touched 183,717.53 due to strong buying in the early sessions before it turned bearish by losing 69.29 points to close at 182,500.52 points.
International officials have warned that US military intervention in Iran now appears likely and could take place within the next 24 hours amid sharply escalating tensions in the Middle East.
American, European and Israeli sources said preparations for possible action were under way as Washington began evacuating personnel from its major air base in Qatar.
NEW DELHI: People with job cards assigned under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme will be able to get work without disruption when transition takes place to new rural employment framework under Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act.Even though exact timeframe is not known yet, rural development ministry officials said the VB-G RAM G scheme will come into force in the coming financial year after the Centre frames and notifies the rules. After govt notifies the Act’s commencement date, states will get six months to make their schemes to enable implementation of the law.To ensure there is no disruption and job guarantee is upheld during transition from MGNREGA, it has been proposed to enable workers to use the same job cards issued under MGNREGA with Aadhaar-based eKYC.The officials said that as of now, around 75% of job cards have been verified with eKYC under the ongoing scheme. Moreover, ongoing projects under MGNREGA, if incomplete when the transition happens to the new scheme, would stay on course.Meanwhile, work is on to frame rules, lay out regulations on normative allocations, fund flow plan, IT framework, a national-level steering panel and social audits.Under the new law, focus will be on transparency to weed out leakages and duplicacy of work,the social audit system will be strengthened, and technology leveraged to create systems to establish work progress, timely wage payment and accountability through ‘e-measurement’ books, sources said. Demand for work will have to be entered on a digital platform. Officials made it clear the new law in no way interferes with demand-driven character of the scheme.
Budget 2026 Should Support MSMEs, Critical Minerals For Boosting Trade Resilience: Deloitte
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