Bank of England: UK pandemic performance "nowhere near" as bad as figures suggest

The Bank of England has said that the country’s economic performance was “nowhere near” as bad as official numbers suggested.

The bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said that Britain’s economic situation during the Covid-19 pandemic was better than numbers suggest when compared to other countries.

Over the course of the pandemic, Britain has seen GDP dip to -25 per cent (in April 2020), with the budget deficit reaching an estimated £280bn.

Earlier this week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the way government services like education were measured, making international comparisons challenging.

This comes as the bank gives lenders “at least” six months of breathing space before negative interest rates are a possibility.

Andrew Bailey commented: “Actually I think the UK’s performance is nowhere near as adverse […] as suggested by the headline numbers.

“My message to the markets is you really should not try to read the future behaviour of the MPC from these decisions and these actions we’re taking on the toolbox.”