OECD predicts minimal growth for Britain

THE OECD has warned that Britain's economy will continue to struggle for the rest of the year as the world slips closer to a double-dip recession. It predicts annual growth of just 0.3 per cent in the last three months of the year, a figure that equates to a quarterly growth rate of near zero.

The Paris-based thinktank painted a gloomy picture for other leading nations. It expects the US to record annual growth of just 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, Japan zero and Germany to shrink by -1.4 per cent.

The OECD's economists also predicted a "further tightening of financial conditions," and said: "Stronger fiscal consolidation may have been exerting more drag on activity than expected."

Alan Clarke, UK economist at Scotia Capital, told the Guardian: "This is likely to reinforce pessimism if the usually pretty conservative OECD is now more pessimistic than the most pessimistic amongst us."

The Bank of England also held interest rates at 0.5 per cent on Thursday.

Read a full report at the Guardian. ·