UK recession risk ‘on the rise’, warns top bank chief

A top global bank chief has warned that the probability of a recession have grown as war in Ukraine, cost of living pressures and the impact of the Covid pandemic rumble on.

Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank has said today that fresh supply chain disruption and soaring inflation are showing signs of an economic slump.

He also argued that record rates of Covid infection could add a further blow to economic growth.

“Work absences are rising, and the hit to activity will likely show in the coming months, despite the near full relaxation in rules,” he said in today’s new report.

Deutsche forecasts that the British economy will contract by around 0.2 per cent from April to June. They say the economy will then slightly rebound  before fizzling into flat growth before December as energy bills are set to increase again from  October.

However Raja maintains that the UK will “just about avoid” a recession.