Economy

UK growth in 2018 to be slowest in G20, says OECD

By Business & Finance
13 March 2018
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The UK economy will grow slower this year than any other major advanced country in 2018.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), world growth will be at the fastest since 2011 helped by US tax cuts and spending in Germany.

The OECD also said that the world economy is set to grow at an annual rate of 3.9% over the next two years. However, trade barriers could hurt the progress made in jobs, growth and recovery. Also, weak business investment could curtail growth as Brexit is still causing uncertainty across the board.

Economists put Britain’s growth at an annual pace of 1.5% over the next two years.

Álvaro Pereira, the OECD Acting Chief Economist, says the UK must have policies in place to address and improve living standards.

A forecast of 1.3% growth for this year alone was made by the OECD, up from a 1.2% forecast made last November.

In 2019, the same year Britain will leave the EU following Brexit, the forecast for growth is currently set at 1.1%, lagging behind other G20 nations.

French growth for this year is set to hit an 11-year high of 2.2% but will decrease to 1.9% in 2019.

In the final quarter of 2017, the UK’s GDP growth was revised to 0.4% from a previous estimate of 0.5%. Overall for 2017, the economy grew 1.7%.