Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UK economy will experience the worst fall in 300 years, the head of the British Treasury Rishi Sunak promised. His speech to parliament is broadcast by The Telegraph. According to the minister, by the end of 2020, the United Kingdom’s GDP will decline by 11.3 percent.
Recovery will begin in 2021 (+5.5 percent), and by 2022, GDP growth should be 6.6 percent. In general, Sunak said, the economy will return to pre-crisis indicators by the end of 2022, but the consequences of the pandemic will be long-term. The minister clarified that now in 2025 the GDP will be about 3 percent less than provided for in the March draft budget.
Great Britain experienced the biggest recession on record, GDP fell in second quarter of this year by 20.4 percent. Indicators collapsed amid restrictive measures introduced to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Since the beginning of the epidemic, the UK government has committed more than £ 300 billion to fight COVID-19 and support business.
Now the government is going to allocate another 280 billion pounds, 18 billion will go to testing, vaccinations and the purchase of personal protective equipment. Another two billion will be used to support the transport system, and three billion will be distributed to local district administrations. Most of all – 55 billion – is due to government agencies and services.