Economists warn of doom and gloom

By Chris Giles

Published: January 1 2009 22:01 | Last updated: January 1 2009 22:01

The recession will be considerably longer and deeper than the Treasury has forecast, according to a majority of economists polled by the Financial Times.

Their views contrast with the Treasury and the Bank of England’s relative optimism in believing the economy will start to grow reasonably strongly in the second half of the year. Only a small minority of economists are confident that the green shoots of recovery will be visible by the end of this year.

Doom-mongerers include Michael Saunders of Citi, who says the UK is “in one of the worst recessions .... in the last 50 yearsâ€