CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has warned that the UK Government will not be able to protect every business and every household during the Covid-19 pandemic and that there will be more “tough times” ahead.
Analysis of the potential economic impact of the coronavirus lockdown
by Britain’s fiscal watchdog
suggested the UK economy could fall off a cliff edge, potentially shrinking 35% between April and June while unemployment surges by more than
two million.
In its first estimate of the economic toll taken by the crisis, the Office for Budget Responsibility said unemployment could hit 3.4 million, leaving around one in 10 of the working population without a job.
Addressing the report, which is a scenario-based analysis and not a forecast, Sunak said had the Government not taken the actions it had, “the situation would be much worse”.
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