Strike it poor

25 November 2020 By Aimee Donnellan Follow @aimeedonnellan

Finance minister Rishi Sunak is set to hike borrowing to 394 bln pounds to pay for the pandemic. New savings from foreign aid and freezing public sector pay will do little to help the economy that is only set to grow 5.5% next year. A no-deal Brexit would make matters worse.

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Britain will borrow almost 400 billion pounds in the current financial year to pay for the massive coronavirus hit to its economy, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Nov. 25.

The UK economy is set to shrink by 11.3% in 2020, its biggest contraction since the early 1700s, before growing by 5.5% in 2021, Sunak said.

Announcing the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, Sunak said public borrowing was set to soar to 394 billion pounds ($526 billion) in the current 2020-2021 financial year.

That was equivalent to 19% of gross domestic product, the highest ever during peacetime.

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