Leading economists have warned that Britain’s recovery could be delayed until next year despite the end of lockdown restrictions tomorrow.
City veterans said the soaring number of Covid cases has hit consumer confidence, and ‘confused’ guidance on returning to work could stall economic growth.
Delay: City veterans said the soaring number of Covid cases has hit consumer confidence, and ‘confused’ guidance on returning to work could stall economic growth
Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I don’t think we’ll experience such an uplift to the economy as people are expecting. Actually, there’s going to be cautious consumer behaviour, cautious business behaviour and therefore it will be a much more muted recovery than the Government might be expecting.’
He added: ‘I don’t think the economy will feel as though it was back to where it was before the pandemic until certainly the early months of next year, or even later.’
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, warned that monthly economic growth will not return to the level seen in February 2020 until early next year, after originally forecasting October.
He said: ‘We are becoming a bit more concerned that the increase in the number of virus cases in recent weeks will hold back the economy as people are either sick or self-isolating.’
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