The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) has warned that the Brexit vote has pushed the UK to second to last on the table in terms of growth for business and value of the GBP, compared to the UK’s major economic rivals in the G20. The UK was followed only by Brazil, with the South American country emerging from a two-year economic crisis.
The UK has only made a 0.3% advance between April and June 2017 in comparison to its G20 economic rivals. Brazil managed growth of just 0.2%, a positive improvement as it recovers from its worst-ever recession, soaring unemployment and the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff.
With inflation spiralling ever higher, the impact of Brexit’s on the sterling and on business confidence means that even the sclerotic Italian economy outpaced the UK in the last quarter.
Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets Europe, said: “Fundamentally in the second quarter it was only the public sector which kept the economy in growth. Brexit uncertainty and the inflation hit to spending is killing the dynamism of the economy.”
The strongest performer based on the figures compiled by OECD was Turkey, followed by China, although the OECD’s figures do not include data from Argentina, Russia or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The findings come at a time of growing concern among business and political circles alike, over the Tory government’s rush towards a hard Brexit, in which the UK will leave the Customs Union, which a recent study has said could cost UK firms more than £4bn a year and trigger enormous disruption to trade in the UK.
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