The scale of the business shutdown in Scotland caused by the coronavirus outbreak is so large that it could take years for the Scottish economy to recover, according to the latest economic commentary from the Fraser of Allander Institute.

Fraser of Allander Institute director Graeme Roy said: “The large-scale mothballing of our economy in response to the public health emergency is unlike anything we have seen since World War II.

“Businesses and policymakers always knew that a global pandemic represented a major risk to our highly integrated global economy.

“But the pace at which this crisis has escalated has caught many off-guard.

“Assuming that the public health emergency will pass in the coming months, the hope of many is that that the economy should come out the other side with only a limited hit to its long-term productive capacity.

“But this is looking increasingly overly optimistic.

“The scale of the shutdown in our economy is so large it will take months, if not years, to recover …

“Key now will be ensuring that long-term scarring effects of any recession can be mitigated as much as possible.

“The economy that emerges from this, from the shops on our high street through to day-to-day working practices, is likely to look quite different.”