Jeremy Hunt swipes at the IMF saying UK economy WILL avoid recession after GDP flattens in February – with wave of public sector strikes wiping out gains from construction recovery
Jeremy Hunt made a veiled swipe at the IMF today after data showed the UK economy fell flat in February.
GDP held steady this month as the impact of public sector strikes offset a recovery in the construction sector.
However, the growth for January was slightly revised from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent. And over the most recent three months to February, UK plc was up 0.1 percent.
After the IMF issued its latest gloomy forecasts on Britain’s outlook, Hunt stressed that the outlook was “better than expected” and that the country is on track to avoid a recession.
“The economic outlook looks better than expected – GDP has grown in the three months to February and we are poised to avoid a recession thanks to the steps we took through a huge package of cost support of livelihoods for families and radical reforms to boost jobs, market and business investment,” he said.
GDP held steady in February, with union action driving down activity in education and government
Jeremy Hunt made a veiled swipe at the IMF today after data showed the UK economy fell flat in February
ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said: “The economy generally did not grow in February. Construction grew strongly after a bad January, with more repair work.
“There was also a boost from retail, with many stores having a good month.
“These were offset by the effects of civil servants’ and teachers’ strikes, which hit the public sector, and unusually mild weather led to a drop in electricity and gas consumption.”
A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction, something the UK has not suffered since the massive Covid hit.
The IMF slightly revised its forecast for UK GDP this year and next in its World Economic Output report earlier this week.
But despite the improvement, it estimated that Britain will still have the worst growth in the G7 group of advanced countries in 2023 and 2024.
Germany is the only European country that will experience poorer growth this year, and Italy next year, the IMF found.
Even Russia was predicted to grow faster than Britain – although economists warned that the body had a patchy track record and that the numbers should be taken with a hefty grain of salt.
The report showed that developed economies will generally grow more slowly than emerging economies.
British manufacturing is expected to shrink by 0.3 percent this year, before growing again by 1 percent next year, economists working for the body said.
But it is certainly better news than an earlier forecast from the IMF, which predicted the economy would contract by 0.6 percent this year.
The IMF has revised its forecast for UK GDP this year and next in its World Economic Output report upwards. But despite the improvement, it will still have the worst growth in the G7 group of advanced countries in 2023 and 2024.
