UK’s economy shrank by a record 5.8% in March from February as the COVID-19 crisis escalated and the government ordered a shutdown of much of the country to stop the spread of the virus, according to official data.

From January to March 2020, the UK’s GDP contracted 2.0% from the last three months of 2019, the Office for National Statistics said.

That was the largest quarter-on-quarter fall since the end of 2008, when the financial crisis hit its peak.

Earlier, the Bank of England said it expected the country’s GDP to see a 14 percent decrease in 2020 and then grow by 15 percent in 2021.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday announced that the government was planning to relax Covid-19 restrictions put into place on 23 March.

Source: Sputnik