The British economy will stagnate until next summer with a significant risk of a double-dip recession, the European Commission concludes in its latest forecasts which also show the government’s deficit reduction strategy is failing.
In EU-wide forecasts, which assume that financial markets regain their poise and the eurozone sorts out its woes, the outlook for Britain is still very weak, with growth forecasts sharply revised down and a new black hole in the public finances.
For the EU as a whole, including Britain, “a deep and prolonged recession complemented by continued market turmoil cannot be excluded,” Marco Buti, the head of economic and financial affairs at the Commission, warned in the introduction to the forecasts.