Reuters reports that Goldman Sachs said that Britain looks set to see faster economic growth than the United States this year as the country races ahead with its vaccination programme after its slump in 2020.

The bank said that it now expects British GDP to grow by a “striking” 7.8% this year, “above our expectations for the U.S.” 

The International Monetary Fund has projected a 5.3% expansion.

But since those forecasts were made there have been signs of an acceleration in the pace of recovery with the country now having given a first coronavirus vaccine to more than half of its total population.

“The UK economy is rebounding sharply from the Covid crisis,” Goldman Sachs said.

“The April flash PMI was much stronger than expected in the UK, with the services PMI moving strongly further into expansionary territory,” it said.

The note did not provide a comparison forecast for U.S. economic growth this year. In February, Goldman said it expected U.S. GDP would grow by 6.8% in 2021 as President Joe Biden pushed ahead with a huge fiscal stimulus programme.