LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2020) The UK government has downgraded its GDP growth forecast for this year to 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent due to Brexit and the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with the latter's impact not yet fully accounted in the forecast, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said on Wednesday, delivering a speech on this year's budget in the House of Commons.
"The GDP forecast without fully accounting for the impact of coronavirus would have led to growth of 1.1 percent in 2020, 1.8 percent in 2021, then 1.5 percent, 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent in the following years," Sunak said, citing data from the UK Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which presents an official forecast of economic indicators.
The chancellor stressed that the measures to support the economy that the government intends to adopt will boost the country's economy.
"The OBR have said that, as a direct result of the plans that I am announcing, growth over the next two years will be half a percentage points higher than it otherwise would have been," Sunak said.
In March 2019, the OBR expected the UK economy to grow by 1.4 percent in 2020 and by 1.6 percent in 2021.
