LONDON: Britain’s economy shrank 2% in the first three months of the year, rocked by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Wednesday, with analysts predicting even worse to come.
“March’s GDP figures showed that the UK economy was already in freefall within two weeks of the lockdown going into effect,” said Capital Economics analyst Ruth Gregory. The Bank of England had already warned last week that the economic paralysis could lead to Britain’s worst recession in centuries.
“The pandemic also hit trade globally, with UK imports and exports falling over the last couple of months, including a notable drop in imports from China.”Furlough extended Sunak on Tuesday announced a four-month extension to the furlough scheme, which will now run until the end of October.