robert chote was speaking in a bbc interview. our business correspondent katy austin's here. likely shape of the recovery? well, the pandemic is hitting the uk economy, and the obr has warned it could shrink by a third in the second quarter, but the big unknown is what happens next, what the recovery will be like. the most optimistic prediction would be for the sharp drop to be followed by a swift bounce back, and the obr has modelled that scenario. however, its chairman, robert chote, said today that he thought a slower recovery was more likely in practice, and the impact of that, including on the public finances, would depend on factors including how confident people were to actually get back to work and to spend money, which of cause affects tax revenues. but he said the real worry was actually whether we would see permanent scarring on the economy, so we see lots of businesses failing, for example, and people losing their jobs, not being able to get new ones. he also said there will be kind of long—term changes to the way the economy operates, more online shopping, sector

the head of the office for budget responsbility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long timeal. in practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. israel has sworn in a new unity government led by prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his former rival benny gantz. it ends the longest political crisis in the nation's history. lawmakers in the knesset formally approved the three—year coalition government. mr netanyahu vowed to push on with controversial plans to annex large parts of the occupied west bank. the afgha

the head of the office for budget responsibility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long timectivity to return to normal. in practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. the italian prime minister, giuseppe conte, has admitted that his country is taking a calculated risk by rolling back lockdown measures from next week. the country's daily death toll from covid—i9 has now fallen to its lowest since the 9th of march. mr conte said that there could be another rise, but the country could not afford to wait any long

the head of the office for budget responsibility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long timein practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. in thailand, officials are allowing shopping malls, museums and fitness centres to open in a further easing of lockdown measures. but bars and clubs will remain closed. flights from overseas are not currently allowed. that means thailand's lucrative tourism industry is effectivley mothballed. let's speak to our south east asia correspondent jonathan head who is in bangkok.

the head of the office for budget responsbility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long timenormal. in practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. borisjohnson has warned that a vaccine for coronavirus may never come but says the uk is leading efforts to develop one. the british government is investing £93 million to bring forward by a year the construction of a new vaccine manufacturing centre in oxford. it will have the capacity to produce enough vaccine doses for the uk population injust six months, if a va

the head of the office for budget responsibility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long time. in practice, i think you are likely not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but also of course on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go or will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect i think a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. in south africa, the coronavirus has prompted the authorities to take an unusual step. for the last seven weeks there's been a ban on selling alcohol and cigarettes. health experts say the new "prohibition" has helped reduce crime and injuries, but some argue the ban is playing into the hands of criminal gangs, and damaging south africa's fragile economy. 0ur africa corre

the head of the office for budget responsbility, robert chote, told the bbc it will take a long timey not to see the economy bouncing back to where we would have expected it otherwise to be by the end of the year, which is part of that assumption. but instead, a rather slower recovery, and that will depend first on the pace at which public health restrictions are loosened but, also, of course, on the way in which people's behaviour responds. so, if you allow people back into the workplace, back into shops, back into restaurants, will they actually go, will they feel too nervous? so, you would expect, i think, a slower recovery than the v shape that you simply make for that assumption. in the last hour, scotland's health secretary jeane freeman has been giving an update on the fight against coronavirus. 0ur correspondent alexandra mackenzie explained the scottish government's new plans to support care homes, and introduce a test and track scheme. she talked a lot about residents in care homes. care homes have been a real concern across the country. we are talking about some of the mos