Jeremy Hunt tells Washington that UK predictions are ‘much better’ than IMF doomsayers
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said he is “confident” the UK will beat the poor growth forecasts predicted by the IMF.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this year that the UK economy will shrink by 0.3 per cent this year and grow by just one per cent in 2024.
Speaking to Bloomberg in Washington DC yesterday, the chancellor insisted the gloomy predictions were wrong.
Hunt, who is in the US to attend a meeting of G7 finance ministers at the UN financial agency, said: “We will do better than that, our forecasts are significantly better than the IMF.
“It’s not just me. The German finance minister says he’s much more optimistic about Germany’s prospects.
“We are very confident about the UK medium and longer term prospects but we don’t pretend we’re not going through a difficult period.
“Like everyone we’re dealing with very high inflation which we have to bring down.”
Asked when the UK would see an election next year, the chancellor said: “It’s too soon to answer that question.”
He added: “If you look at the projections by the IMF and official forecasters in the UK, and the Bank of England, they are that in a year’s time the UK economy will really have turned a corner.