He was speaking after figures showed that the country's economy shrank by 20.4% in April - the largest monthly contraction on record - as the country spent its first full month in lockdown.

"We are still very much in the midst of this," Mr Bailey said.

But he said the figure was "pretty much in line" with what the bank expected.

"Obviously it's a dramatic and big number, but actually it's not a surprising number," he said.

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