The
Office for Budget Responsibility, whose projections are used by
the government, said tax hikes or spending cuts would probably
be needed to fix the huge hole in the public finances.
"The UK is on track to record the largest decline in annual GDP
for 300 years, with output falling by more than 10% in 2020 in
all three scenarios," the OBR said in a report.
"This delivers an unprecedented peacetime rise in borrowing this
year to between 13% and 21% of GDP, lifting debt above 100% of
GDP in all but the upside scenario."
The central scenario, with only moderate long-term damage,
showed a 12.4% fall in output, with a 14.3% decline if the
scarring is deeper.
In the downside scenario borrowing in the current financial year
could hit 391 billion pounds ($490 billion), and in the upside
one 263 billion pounds, with output falling 10.6%.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund said Britain's
economy looks set to shrink by more than 10% this year.
The OBR scenarios do not incorporate gross national product data
published on Tuesday, which showed a only a modest return to
growth in May following the lockdown.
Nor do they include measures announced by finance minister Rishi
Sunak last week that could cost up to 30 billion pounds, which
the OBR said would have had a material effect on the borrowing
outlook.
An increase in Britain's historically low borrowing costs could
leave government finances vulnerable, given the sharp rise in
debt, the OBR said.
Even under the most optimistic scenario, the unemployment rate
looks likely to peak at almost 10% in the third quarter of 2020,
it added, with its downside scenario showing the peak at 13.2%
in early 2021.
(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce and John
Stonestreet)
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