Optimistic Brown predicts the UK and US to scale economic heights |
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Mon, 23 May 2005 17:30
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Even as the ongoing economic downturn is sending shivers down the spines of many across the country, Chancellor Gordon Brown doesn’t seem to be the least fazed by it. Brown stated on Sunday that Britain and the United States of America would rank amongst the fastest developing nations in the G7 list of rich nations this year.
Comparing the accomplishments of UK and the US positively with their equivalents in continental Europe, Brown announced to the BBC, “Britain and North America will be the two fastest-growing economies this year of the G7 industrial countries. We’ve got a recession in Italy, we’ve got low growth in Germany, we’ve got a downturn in France. Britain is continuing to grow.”
Regarding his forecast of 3.0 to 3.5 percent this year for Britain’s growth in his March budget which experts considered to be too high for the current economy to make up to, Brown reiterated his belief in his prediction, and cited examples to prove his point. He was quoted saying, “If you look at what has happened in the last week alone, inflation has come in lower than target, employment is seen to be rising again, retail sales were higher than people expected. I do believe we are seeing the benefits of stability in the British economy.”
| Retail sales data of the UK last week displayed a sudden rise in the month of April, though the annual rate was seen plummeting drastically to reach a two year low. This had prompted economists to send warnings against the general economic trend of the market, which was far from recuperation.
In fact, officials have also emphasised the risk of the British economy falling lower on account of the downturn in the rates of household expenditure, which could convert the so- called ‘temporary’ slump of the market into a permanent fixture.
Meanwhile, the chancellor dismissed the notion that his lofty public spending strategies were creating a “black hole” in the country’s financial books and that a hike in taxes in the coming years could only be able to fill it.
Defending his plans, Brown said, “We have got a lower deficit than almost all our major competitors. It’s lower than America, it’s lower than Japan, it’s lower than France and Germany. All our spending plans are set out years ahead.”
Although Britain's inflation rate in April could be seen standing at a seven-year high of 1.9 percent, it was yet to touch the 2 percent target set by the Bank of England.
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