Related News
Brexit-bound Britain slashes growth forecasts
Print Edition
BRITAIN slashed its growth forecasts for its Brexit-bound economy and expects to borrow sharply more going into the next decade, finance minister Philip Hammond said yesterday as he delivered a gloomy budget statement in parliament.
Slower economic growth will mean lower tax revenues, giving Hammond little room for the bold moves that many in his Conservative Party — still smarting from an election mauling in June — are demanding to help households after years of cuts in public spending.
Hammond said he was taking a balanced approach to steering Britain’s economy through the next few years when it will face the challenge of leaving the European Union.
“We understand the frustration of families where real incomes are under pressure,” he said, acknowledging high inflation and weak wage growth. He pointed to forecasts that unemployment will continue to fall.
But he also said the war chest he wants to keep in reserve to help the economy would almost halve in size because of the weak outlook for the economy.
Hammond said Britain’s budget forecasters now expect gross domestic product will grow by 1.5 percent in 2017, compared with a forecast of 2 percent made in March, reflecting a slowdown this year as last year’s Brexit vote weighed on the economy.
The Office for Budget Responsibility saw growth in 2018 at 1.4 percent, below its previous forecast of 1.6 percent, Hammond told parliament.
The revisions for later years were more acute — GDP growth forecasts in 2019 and 2020 stood at 1.3 percent in both years compared with 1.7 and 1.9 percent respectively seen in March.
The OBR had been expected to take a gloomier view on the economy after it said in October that it would lower its projections for productivity growth in the years ahead.
By 2021 and 2022, growth was seen picking up only slightly to 1.5 and 1.6 percent respectively.
Many lawmakers had called on Hammond to produce a bold budget to turn around the fortunes of Prime Minister Theresa May who lost her parliamentary majority in a failed election gamble in June. She is struggling to make headway in Brexit negotiations with the EU and recently lost two ministers from her cabinet.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
