LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The downturn in Britain's economy has been worse than was widely forecast, finance minister Alistair Darling said on Friday.
"It's undoubtedly sharper than many people believed, partly because you've seen industrial production go down because the export markets have been badly affected," he told Sky News.
The recovery will be helped by international co-operation, he added, emphasising that the government would take all necessary steps to help quickly.
Figures on Friday showed Britain entered recession for the first time since 1991 after output contracted 1.5 percent in the final three months of 2008.