Despite seeing major market swings following the 2016 Brexit referendum, we don’t expect Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU) to have any major economic effects in our baseline outlook for 2021 and beyond. Far more important are COVID-19, fiscal policy, and bigger questions around future productivity growth.

The Bank of England and the British government both announced easing measures to counter the effects of the coronavirus on the economy – how effective can we expect these measures to be?

While the election result reduces Brexit uncertainty significantly, it doesn’t eliminate it. Will there be an extension of the transition period? How will any deal affect the economy? In the meantime, UK banks and sterling, especially wounded since the 2016 referendum, still offer value, while low-yielding gilts look unattractive relative to other government debt, such as U.S. Treasuries.

The U.K. is set to head to the polls on December 12. Here are our key takeaways for the economy and markets.

In August of last year, the Bank of England (BOE) announced a new round of quantitative easing (QE) that included the purchase of sterling-denominated corporate bonds. Alongside a cut in interest rates, the Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme (CBPS) was designed to boost the UK economy amid a more negative outlook post-Brexit.