Johnson vowed not to cut public spending to balance the books as the government spends billions during the lockdown, including £14 billion a month just on its job retention scheme, in order to prevent a massive rise in unemployment as entire sections of the economy were shut down on March 23 in a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Johnson told Times Radio: “This has been a disaster, let’s not mince our words, this has been an absolute nightmare for the country.

“The country has gone through a profound shock. But in those moments you have the opportunity to change and to do things better.

“We really want to build back better, to do things differently, to invest in infrastructure, transport, broadband - you name it.”

The prime said it would be a mistake to “go back to austerity.”

The Bank of England has previously estimated that the U.K. could be about to face its worst recession in 300 years due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the economy shrank by 20.4 percent in April - the largest monthly fall on record.

However, the prime minister vowed to invest in infrastructure projects which he said would pay for themselves.

Johnson told the radio show: “We can’t just step back. What we will be doing in the next few months is doubling down on our initial agenda, which was all about investment.”

He has outlined plans to spend £1 billion on rebuilding schools in England, ahead of a major speech on Tuesday in which he will set out his plans to revive the U.K. economy.

Johnson said: “A massive package going into FE colleges to do up our further education colleges, the 40 hospitals, that continues, we are determined to do that, I think this is the moment for a Rooseveltian approach to the U.K.”

Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” program, helped the United States recover from the Great Depression.

Asked about how he would balance the books the prime minister replied: “I do think that the investment will pay off, this is a very dynamic and productive economy and the way to get U.K, business confident and growing is to give the private sector the confidence to invest in capital, skills and people, is to create the platform and that is what we are going to do.”