London | Britain's coronavirus-hit economy could shrivel by almost one-third during a short, sharp collapse that would be the worst since the South Sea Bubble of 1720, the Bank of England predicts.

The 30 per cent freefall during the first half of 2020 would be followed by an equally dramatic post-pandemic recovery by early next year - with minimal "permanent scarring" of the economy - in a scenario that the Bank warned was "unusually uncertain" and had "downside risks".