In turn, Britain's growth begins to plunge

Correspondent in London

The shock begins to be felt. A few days after the Bank of England (BoE) predicted a historic recession in the country (a GDP shrunk by 14% in 2020), the figures for the first quarter confirmed these gloomy forecasts. GDP fell by 2% in the first three months of the year, while the coronavirus crisis was still in its infancy. It was the worst performance since the end of the tough year 2008.

For the month of March alone, the National Statistics Office (ONS) estimates the decline in GDP at 5.8%, the worst month-to-month since the start of these monthly statistics in 1997. The containment only started on March 23, which increases concern about the impact expected in the second quarter. The economic downturn in particular caused household consumption and business investment to plummet. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, acknowledged that such a decline, after only

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