Bank of England's chief economist tells MPs the UK economy has recovered 'roughly half' of its massive hit from the coronavirus crisis
Official figures, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, have shown a negative performance for the first quarter of the year - tipped by a 5.8% fall in March as the crisis gathered pace.A recession, which is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth, will be confirmed when GDP figures for June are released next month.Mr Haldane said he believed the UK's jobless rate, currently at 3.
He also reiterated an earlier warning that unemployment could rise to its highest since the mid-1980s as demand for retail and hospitality workers has diminished.Mr Haldane repeated that while the Bank was examining the potential effects of taking interest rates into negative territory in a bid to boost economic activity, it would not necessarily do so.
"There is also work underway on other potential instruments available to the MPC - for example, further rounds of QE , credit-easing policies and forward guidance," he said. The Bank is due to make its next interest rate decision on 6 August at the same time as its quarterly monetary policy report is published.
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