LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy is experiencing possibly its deepest economic shock in centuries but it should recover its pre-coronavirus crisis growth pattern once the pandemic is over, Bank of England interest-rate setter Jan Vlieghe said on Thursday.
“Based on the early indicators, and based on the experience in other countries that were hit somewhat earlier than the UK, it seems that we are experiencing an economic contraction that is faster and deeper than anything we have seen in the past century, or possibly several centuries,” Vlieghe said.
“The economy’s potential is severely disrupted at the moment but, once the pandemic is over, and other things equal, in principle it should return approximately to the pre-virus trajectory.”
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
