But as soon as the restrictions are lifted the economy is likely to bounce back, the Office for Budget Responsibility said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has given billions of pounds of funding in grants, loans and paying people’s wages
Independent financial analysts predicted that Britain would face a huge hit as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
They modeled a prediction of a three-month lockdown, and some restrictions in place for another three months after that.
Britain’s lockdown has been in place for just three weeks so far.
However, the experts themselves admitted that their models were very uncertain and could change quickly.
They said that without the Government’s intervention to save jobs, the situation would look even worse.
Britain’s budget deficit could hit £273 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, five times the OBR’s previous estimate. That could read 100 per cent of the nation’s GDP.
The second quarter of the year could see a 35 per cent hit to the nation’s GDP.
The unemployment rate could double to around 10 per cent, too, the experts said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said repeatedly that the economy will take a significant hit thanks to the ongoing virus crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of people have required about emergency business loans, and around half of businesses are expected to take advantage of the Government’s scheme to pay 80 per cent of people’s wages.
