In the course of its history, the UK economy went through different stages of development, facing both ups and downs. Analysts warn that this time the UK is set to enter the worst recession in more than 300 years. The coronavirus pandemic has delivered a hard blow to the country’s budget. The UK economy shrank by 20.4% in the second quarter of 2020, its largest quarterly contraction on record.  Such a deep fall was caused by massive quarantine restrictions and the overall weakness of the global economy. Besides, the imposed lockdown measures cost the British government billions of pounds. Thus, the UK authorities have already spent £300 billion to tackle COVID-19 and support struggling businesses. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak says he expects GDP to rise by 5.5% next year and by 6.6% in 2022. He warns that the UK economy is unlikely to return to its pre-crisis level until the end of 2022. At the same time, the chancellor confirmed the plans to allocate another £280 billion to help get the country through the coronavirus crisis.