COVID-19, NO-DEAL BREXIT TO COST UK $174B YEARLY

The combination of COVID-19 and a failure to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union could cost the United Kingdom (UK) around 134 billion pounds ($174 billion) each year in lost GDP for a decade, research by law firm Baker & McKenzie showed, Reuters reported. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set Oct. 15 as a deadline for clinching a post-Brexit trade deal which would kick in when the UK leaves informal EU membership at the end of this year. 

The COVID-19 outbreak will cut Britain’s GDP by 2.2% below the levels anticipated before the outbreak, Baker & McKenzie said in a report titled “The Future of UK Trade: Merged Realities of Brexit and COVID-19.” 

On top of that, Brexit, even with a trade deal, would cut GDP by 3.1% in the long-run relative to a hypothetical scenario where the UK remained in the EU, while exports of goods would be 6.3% lower, Baker & McKenzie added. But without a trade deal, the cost of Brexit would increase to 3.9% of GDP in the long run, it stressed.