OECD upgrades UK growth forecast

The OECD has upgraded the growth forecast for the UK in spite of previous worries over the Brexit issue while still noting a failure to improve in terms of productivity. The influential worldwide organisation said that the UK economy is set to grow quicker across the rest of this year and in 2019 than was previously believed, despite continued uncertainties over the country’s withdrawal from the EU.

The most recent Economic Outlook report, which is published twice a year, points out that the economic growth of the UK remains relatively modest in comparison to other major economies, projecting the GDP to rise by 1.4% this year, a revised upward projection from the 1.2% that was predicted in the previous forecast from November last year.

The OECD initially feared that the decision to leave the EU would harm the UK economy but has upgraded the forecast for the country a number of times since the referendum result was first announced. In March 2017, the leading economic think tank in the West had to revise a previous prediction of 1.2% growth for the rest of 2017 up to 1.6%.

The new figures also appear to contradict the claims by Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney that the UK economy was 2% lower than had been projected prior to the referendum. The UK is still behind other major economies with an economic growth forecast of 3.8% worldwide, but is expected to exceed that of Japan and Italy.