Bank of England: No-Deal Brexit Could Be as Catastrophic as 2008 Crisis

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney warned the UK cabinet at a special meeting on Thursday that a no-deal Brexit could be as disastrous as the 2008 financial crisis, local media reported, citing official sources.

According to The Guardian, Carney likened the possible consequences of a no-deal scenario for the country to the 2008 financial crisis' fallout. The bank’s governor reportedly warned the government about the possibility of the unemployment rising by two-digit percentage points, falling housing prices and worsening transport communication with the continent.

Meanwhile, the London-based Institute for Government said in a report on Thursday that the uncertainty of the outcome of the UK withdrawal from the European Union would make the UK Treasury’s 2019 Spending Review more complicated than in the past years.

Since the United Kingdom launched the process of leaving the European Union in March 2017, various sectors of the UK economy, including banking and finance, have been facing instability over the possibility of hard Brexit, since both parties have been failing to agree on the issue of future economic relations.

READ MORE: UK Economy Picks Up Speed Ahead of Brexit With Solid Wage, GDP Growth

The Bank of England even requested UK financial firms to draft contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit. In August, Carney said that the risk of leaving the European Union without a deal was "uncomfortably high" for the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is set to leave the bloc in late March 2019.