BoE Chief Economist Andy Haldane said current tougher lockdown restrictions are threatening to bring the UK economy into a double-dip recession. That next slump could be “shorter, sharper shock” than the last one in 2007. Though, unemployment could be capped as long as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak maintains the furlough wage subsidies until the economy has recovered to with 5-10% of pre-pandemic level. Current tighter
Also, “if we get that recovery that I expect to start coming on stream, probably at the rate of knots from the second quarter, that will hopefully then eat away and improve the prospects of reemploying those million people who have lost their jobs”, Haldane added. “Ultimately there’s a timing question — timing the end of the furlough scheme in such a way that the economy is recovered sufficiently to prevent any losses of jobs.”
