The International Monetary Fund has raised its forecast for UK growth this year in the face of sharp cuts to world, US, eurozone and emerging market predictions as it warned that "downside risks to global prospects still dominate".
In what will be seen at the Treasury as a vindication of its decision to ignore the IMF's recent call for a Plan B, the Bretton Woods institution lifted its forecast for GDP growth this year from 0.7% to 0.9%. Its outlook for 2014 was held at 1.5%, the Daily Telegraph reports. The forecasts for Britain now stand head and shoulders above its major European peers, with Germany the closest at 0.3% growth this year and 1.3% next. The eurozone as a whole is expected to shrink 0.6% in 2013, compared with a forecast decline of 0.3% in April. Underlining the improving UK outlook, the respe...
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