The Bank of England has warned the economy could face its biggest slump in over 300 years in 2020 on the back of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The UK's unemployment rate is also expected to reach 9%, as ministers remain in talks over how to 'wind down' the furlough scheme.
It comes as the Bank of England made the decision to hold interest rates at 0.10% on Thursday - after dropping the base rate twice since the start of the pandemic.
The Bank said it expects gross domestic product (GDP) to fall by around 3% in the first three months of 2020 and then plunge by a further 25% in the second quarter, although it cautioned over uncertainty over the forecasts.