LONDON - The United Kingdom's economy is crumbling under the strain of the coronavirus lockdown and government borrowing is soaring to the highest levels in peacetime history, increasing pressure on t
LONDON - The United Kingdom's economy is crumbling under the strain of the coronavirus lockdown and government borrowing is soaring to the highest levels in peacetime history, increasing pressure on the government to set out an exit strategy.
"We are experiencing an economic contraction that is faster and deeper than anything we have seen in the past century, or possibly several centuries," Bank of England interest-rate setter Jan Vlieghe said.The IHS Markit/CIPS Flash UK Composite Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a new record low of 12.9 from 36.0 in March - not even close to the weakest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to a reading of 31.4.
A Reuters poll of economists on Thursday pointed to a roughly 13% contraction in economic output in the current quarter, which would be the largest since records began after World War Two.The government's as yet unpublished strategy for unwinding from the lockdown is also under scrutiny. Deutsche Bank said the country's limited testing capacity is a problem.
A total of 411,192 people have so far been tested and 559,935 tests have been carried out in total in the United Kingdom.
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