Double-dip Britain: We are back in recession warns OECD
A DOUBLE-dip recession has become a reality for Britain, according to an influential think tank.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has claimed that the UK has crashed back into recession after the economy contracted in the first quarter of 2012.
The news comes as a major blow for George Osborne who has faced harsh criticism over his moves in the 2012 budget and faces heat over the upcoming fuel strike.
The gloomy forecast also follows official figures released by the Office of National Statistics which showed that the economy had contracted 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, which was worse than any previous estimates.
The OECD claimed that GDP is on course to fall by about 0.1 per cent in three months to the end of March.
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Britain's bad news also follows grim news across the eurozone.
Germany, Italy and France are also facing grim forecasts with only Germany eking out 0.1 per cent growth.
The OECD has called on eurozone nations to ramp up the size to 1 trillion euros in a bid to protect the euro with a firewall.
It said that central banks should be prepared to keep interest rates low and maintain other crisis measures "for a considerable time to come" and warned the recovery for the world's biggest economies would be fragile, with the outlook for Europe "very weak".