Has IMF predicted a Brexit FREE TRADE DEAL with EU? Report hints at 'avoiding' barriers
BRITAIN will “avoid” trade barriers with the European Union (EU) when it finally leaves the bloc, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has hinted in its latest report.
The IMF said trade barriers would be avoided
Economic bosses said negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with Brussels would not cause significant harm to trade in their latest World Economic Outlook.
They said future economic relations would “proceed without raising excessive uncertainty” because of Britain’s “resilience” despite the nation’s Brexit vote.
The report said: “Negotiations on the future economic relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union are assumed to proceed without raising excessive uncertainty, and the arrangements are expected to eventually settle in a manner that avoids a very large increase in economic barriers.”
The IMF's positive comments are a major U-turn from Brexit doom-mongering
Negotiations on the future economic relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union are assumed to proceed without raising excessive uncertainty
The remarks are a major U-turn from the IMF who offered Britain a gloomy outlook in the wake of the nation’s decision to leave the bloc during last June’s referendum.
In the same revised report, IMF bosses said Britain’s economy is gaining momentum since Brexit and will grow by two per cent.
The IMF said it now expects the British economy to expand by two per cent in 2017, up from January's forecast of 1.5 per cent.
Britain voted to leave the EU on June 23
Head of IMF says British post-Brexit economy not in crisis
The report added: “Growth in the United Kingdom is projected to be 2.0 per cent in 2017, before declining to 1.5 per cent in 2018.
“The 0.9 percentage point upward revision to the 2017 forecast and the 0.2 percentage point downward revision to the 2018 forecast reflect the stronger-than-expected performance of the UK economy since the June Brexit vote, which points to a more gradual materialisation than previously anticipated of the negative effects of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union.
The IMF said Britain had been resilient in the face of Brexit
"Despite the increased possibility of greater impediments to trade and migration down the road, private sector confidence and spending in the United Kingdom have remained resilient in the aftermath of the Brexit vote."