The Bank of England governor said it was “quite possible” UK output would shrink over the next three months. He also signalled that the country still faced a long battle to get back to the kind of growth it enjoyed before the financial crisis.
King was asked about the impact of the jubilee as he appeared before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.
The late May bank holiday has been moved to Monday 4 June, and the next day has also been designated a break to mark the event.
The governor said: “We do expect quite possibly a fall in output in the second quarter, followed by a rise in the third quarter, as we will lose an extra day’s work – it doesn’t necessarily follow that we will lose that whole day’s output – because of the national bank holiday.”
“Last year we saw that pattern again (due to the royal wedding). We would expect that to happen again.”