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Richard Hughes, head of OBR’s Office of Budget Responsibility, said in an interview broadcast Wednesday evening on the BBC that Brexit would have far worse consequences for the UK economy than the pandemic. In his view, leaving the EU would reduce Britain’s gross domestic product by about four per cent. He also added that the pandemic would cause GDP to fall by another 2%. “In the long term, Brexit will have a greater impact than the epidemic” – the expert emphasized.
In its latest report, the OBR stressed that supply shortages caused by stricter immigration rules, as well as more customs and bureaucracy, have worsened the situation in the UK after Brexit. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday presented the budget plan. He announced billions of dollars in aid to many sectors, in addition to raising taxes.
The balance sheet office warned that the cost of living could rise at the fastest pace in 30 years and that inflation could rise to five percent. The Times described Minister Sunak’s tax increases as “enormous”. The Sun newspaper criticized the “epidemic of government spending”.
In the meantime, the head of the Ministry of Finance presented a positive picture of the situation in the country. He announced that the British economy will reach pre-coronavirus levels in 2022 and expect growth of 6.5 per cent this year and 6 per cent next year.
(DW/jar), Polish editors Deutsche Welle
