The services sector, including financial services, hospitality and tourism, makes up about three-quarters of the UK’s GDP. Last week the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that the UK is likely to be the hardest hit by Covid-19 among major economies, due to the UK’s largely service-based economy being particularly badly hit by the government’s lockdown restrictions. The think tank’s findings mean that the expected rapid bounce back in the economy is now “U-shaped” instead of “V-shaped”.
This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that in April the country’s economy shrank by 20.4%. As the country spent its first full month in lockdown, it also saw the largest monthly contraction on record, being three times greater than the decline seen during the whole of the 2008 to 2009 economic downturn.
In response to this, the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey remarked that he was not surprised by these numbers and that the economy was now beginning to come back to life. However, if the situation were to pose a risk of long-term damage to the economy, Bailey would be ready to take action to help the UK economy weather through.
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