The British Chambers of Commerce said a squeeze on household budgets and the failure of exporters to capitalise on the low pound meant the UK was “treading water”. In the latest downbeat view of Britain’s prospects as the Brexit date nears, the BCC cut its growth rate forecast for 2018 to 1.2% from 1.3%. “Our forecast suggests that the hoped-for rebalancing of the UK economy towards investment and export is unlikely to materialise in the medium term. Suren Thiru, head of economics at the BCC, said: “The changes to our growth forecast suggest that the UK economy is likely to remain on a low-growth trajectory. Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, said the 2017 growth forecast had been revised up because the economy had been stronger-than-expected in the first half of the year and was continuing to perform well.

Source: The Guardian September 08, 2017 04:52 UTC