Seven days in the Square Mile

The OECD warned that the UK will suffer the largest economic hit from the Covid19 pandemic among major nations this year – contracting by between 11.5% and 14%. The Paris-based group said rich countries faced a disappointing recovery from the Covid downturn, which would leave deeper scars than any peacetime recession in the past 100 years. The World Bank, meanwhile, predicted that the global economy would shrink by 5.2% in 2020, with output falling in rich countries by 7%, compared with a decline of 2.5% in poorer nations. It warned the figures could be even worse if lockdown measures aren’t lifted by the second half of the year.

Wall Street continued to defy the gloom, buoyed by a record improvement in US job figures. But the latest rally ground to a halt ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday monetary policy meeting. The Bank of England was expected to announce a further £100bn for its bondbuying programme, giving it more firepower to fight the crisis.

British Airways launched a legal challenge against the Government’s plans for a 14-day quarantine period for incomers to Britain. BP said it would cut 14% of its global workforce – around 10,000 jobs – in response to the drop in the oil price. Adviser Rankings reported that BDO now audits the second-highest number of listed companies in the UK, a blow to the power of the “Big Four”. Monsoon Accessorize was saved from bankruptcy. The founder of fitness brand CrossFit, Greg Glassman, resigned as CEO after making offensive remarks on Twitter about the death of George Floyd.