‘Don’t be under the illusion’ that an economic recovery will come quickly with a vaccine - UBS’ Weber

CNBC reports that UBS Chairman Axel Weber cautioned that even with a vaccine, it will take time for the global economy to get back to pre-crisis levels.

“Going forward, I’m not pessimistic. I mean, eventually we’ll get through this. But we should not be under the illusion that it will happen fast, it will take some time,” Weber told CNBC.

“It would be at least a year to go back to pre-crisis levels of GDP (gross domestic product). It’ll take another year or two to be anywhere near getting unemployment and pre-crisis growth back and so it would be quite a long recovery that we’re facing,” he said.

Asked about his reaction to the vaccine, Weber said while “it was definitely good news,” it would take time to roll out vaccination programs at a domestic and global level. The expectation is that Covid-19 vaccines will be given to those in health and service occupations first, as well as the most vulnerable members of society, before it’s rolled out to the rest of the population.

“We’ve been waiting for some good news for some time now ... And the latest news has been really taken well by the market. But you know, you have to take this with a grain of salt,” Weber cautioned.