OECD: Success of vaccine rollout boosts UK GDP forecast
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has upgraded its forecasts for the UK economy pointing to the success of its vaccine rollout.
UK GDP is now forecast to grow 5.1 per cent this year and 4.7 per cent in 2022. It is a marked improvement on the OECD’s December projections which predicted 4.2 per cent growth in 2021 and 4.1 per cent the following year.
The OECD singled out the UK’s accelerated vaccine rollout which “should help momentum to build.”
The UK has now administered more than 22m first doses and over 1m second doses as of Monday afternoon.
Projections have been raised across the board with the OECD noting President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which is expected to add a percentage point to global growth.
The rebound from the pandemic has been “faster than expected” and global GDP is now expected to grow 5.6 per cent this year, a sharp upgrade from the previously forecasted 4.2 per cent.
Despite the optimism, the OECD warns “sizeable risks remain” with slow progress in vaccine deployment and the emergence of new virus mutations touted to result in weaker recovery and larger job losses.
“The top policy priority is to ensure that all resources necessary are used to produce and fully deploy vaccinations as quickly as possible throughout the world, to save lives, preserve incomes and limit the adverse impact of containment measures on well-being,” the OECD said.