Is the UK economy ready to rebound like a ‘coiled spring’?

The Bank of England’s chief economist thinks the UK economy is primed to bounce back powerfully later this year. Ben Chu examines whether he’s right or not

There are no specific forecasts in Andy Haldane’s article but he does suggest that the UK annual GDP growth ‘could be in double-digits’ this time next year

The Office for National Statistics confirmed on Friday that the UK economy suffered its most disastrous year in three centuries in 2020, contracting by almost 10 per cent thanks to the pandemic and the various lockdowns it compelled.

But the news coincided with the arrival of an argument from the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, who wrote in the Daily Mail that the UK economy is like a “coiled spring”, ready to bounce back powerfully later this year when vaccines have been rolled out and restrictions lifted.

So is this optimism justified? Or is Haldane – who has been persistently bullish about the UK economy’s prospects over the past year, only to be contradicted by the outcome – going too far?