Britain set to boom as global economy slows
THE UK will defy the weak global economic trend next year as the recovery takes hold in Britain, analysts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted yesterday.
The world’s economy will only grow by 2.7 per cent this year and 3.6 per cent next year, the think-tank said – slashing 0.4 percentage points from its previous forecast for each year.
By contrast Britain will accelerate, growing 1.4 per cent this year, compared with the 0.8 per cent which was forecast six months ago.
And next year the UK is set to enjoy a solid 2.4 per cent rise in GDP, 0.9 percentage points above the previous predictions.
However, the OECD pointed to some risks, particularly the increasing pace of activity in the housing market.
“Vigorous house price increases could boost wealth and private consumption, but could also undermine affordability and stretch the balance sheet of first-time buyers,” its report said.
“It is urgent to continue to relax the barriers to housing supply to prevent overheating in the property markets.”