Cuts after 2015 election ‘will slow growth’

Chancellor George Osborne should be braced for slowing growth after the next general election, a leading economic forecaster warned today.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research revised its 2013 growth forecast to 1 per cent as a recovering housing market buoys consumer spending. But delayed spending cuts will bite in 2016, slowing growth from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent, it added.

Senior economist Scott Corfe said firms should prepare for choppier waters ahead after Britain goes to the polls. He said: “While growth is likely to pick up in 2013 and 2014, supported by a housing market revival, we expect growth to slow between 2015 and 2016 as deeper Government spending cuts are implemented. It looks like we’ve got a mini-business cycle on the table.”