U.K. Economic Forecasts Cut as E&Y Sees Osborne Missing Target
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Britain’s economy will shrink this year as weakening global demand offsets an improvement in consumer spending, hampering the government’s deficit-reduction plans, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club.
Gross domestic product will fall 0.2 percent this year and rise 1.2 percent in 2013, the London-based group said in a report today. It previously forecast stagnation this year followed by 1.6 percent expansion. While consumer spending will propel growth in the second half, the euro-area crisis remains a threat, it said.