Bank of England forecasts a real wake up call - UK minister

Bank of England forecasts that Britain could be facing the biggest economic slump for 300 years are a "real wake up call", Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said on Thursday. In what it called an illustrative scenario, the BoE said it saw a plunge of 14% in Britain's economy in 2020 followed by a 15% bounce-back in 2021.

Lewis also said the public should be cautious over newspaper stories that the government's stay at home message to curb the spread of the coronavirus would be significantly changed in a review of the lockdown over the next few days. "I would just say to people to not get too carried away with what we may be reading and just wait until the government guidelines and the prime minister's statement," Lewis told BBC TV.