Brexit: Britain dips to bottom of G7 economic growth table

Brexit: Too Little, Too Late

Britain has fallen from the top to the bottom of the league of G7 leading economies in the year since the Brexit vote, with official data recently showing slower growth than previously thought.

The pound dropped as much as 0.7 per cent against the euro on the back of weaker-than-expected GDP figures, a report that London’s house prices fell for the first time in nine years, and higher levels of consumer debt.

But despite the poor economic data, Mark Carney hinted that interest rates were still likely to rise in November. “If the economy continues on the track that it’s been on, and all indications are that it is, in the relatively near term we can expect that interest rates would increase somewhat,” the Bank of England governor said recently..

Some economists who think the BoE will raise interest rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting in November were more cautious following  Recent data release. Alan Clarke, of Scotiabank, said: “I’m sticking to my call for a hike in November, but I’m much more nervous now than I was before this data release.”

Having been the fastest-growing economy in the G7 on the eve of the EU referendum, new figures from the Office for National Statistics in Britain showed UK growth below the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. 

EU-Digest