LONDON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The British economy is forecast to shrink by 11.3 percent this year, the worst recession in more than 300 years in the country as a result of the coronavirus crisis, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Wednesday.
The chancellor told British lawmakers that the Office of Budget of Responsibility (OBR) did not expect the economy to return to its pre-coronavirus levels until the end of 2022.
Sunak said the fiscal damage of the pandemic was "likely to be lasting" and cited figures from the OBR that predicted unemployment to peak at 7.5 percent, or 2.6 million people, in the second quarter of 2021.
He warned that the "economic emergency has only just begun" as he unveiled his first Spending Review in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
