UK economy will take more than a year to recover to pre-Covid level, says OBR

Jeremy Hunt's efforts to boost growth unlikely to prevent largest fall in living standards on record

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The UK economy will take more than a year to recover its pre-pandemic strength despite Jeremy Hunt's efforts to boost growth after last year's mini-budget debacle.

A loosening of the purse strings over the next five years by the chancellor will prevent the economy falling into recession this year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, making the downturn shorter and shallower" than it was predicting in November.