Another day, another Brexit horror story, this time the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) has cut the UK’s growth target in half, by a whole percentage point.
These forecasts have been reduced due to the impact of Brexit and a wider weakness in the broader global outlook.
The report states: “While markets have since stabilised, sterling has depreciated by around 10% in trade-weighted terms since the referendum. For 2016, GDP growth has been supported by a strong performance prior to the referendum, even though business investment contracted.
“Developments to date are broadly consistent with the more moderate scenarios set out prior to the referendum and reflect prompt action by the Bank of England in August. However, GDP is projected to slow to 1% in 2017, well below the pace in recent years and forecasts prior to the referendum.
“Spillovers to the global economy, notably the euro area, have been modest so far, including through confidence and financial markets weighing on investment; more negative effects on the euro area are likely to become apparent in 2017.”
The OECD also downgraded the global growth predictions from 3% to 2.9%. A slowdown in the Chinese economy is likely to slow down the worldwide economy.
The OECD was a supporter of ex-Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity plans, however they have called on his replacement, Philip Hammond, to increase public spending, hoping that this investment will boost the beleaguered economy.
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
