The UK will be the poorest performing big economy this year, predicts a major financial agency.
The International Monetary Fund thinks UK plc will shrink 0.3%.
The only other advanced economy in the G7 group expected to decline is Germany’s, by 0.1%.
The Tories claimed because the IMF’s forecast for the UK’s decline has changed from 0.6% to 0.3% this is a good sign.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Our IMF growth forecasts have been upgraded by more than any other G7 country.
“The IMF now say we are on the right track for economic growth.
“By sticking to the plan we will more than halve inflation this year, easing the pressure on everyone.”
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said IMF projections that Britain will contract and having the poorest G7 growth shows how far we lag behind.
She said: “IMF projections that Britain will have a smaller economy by the end of the year, and the poorest growth in the G7 over this year and next, shows just how far we continue to lag behind on the global stage.
“This matters not just because 13 years of low growth under the Tories are weakening our economy, but because it’s why families are worse off, facing a Tory mortgage penalty and seeing living standards falling at their fastest rate since records began.”
