Watch: James Cartlidge makes statement after IMF forecasts UK economy to shrink

The City of London skyline (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

Watch as British junior finance minister James Cartlidge makes a statement on the latest IMF forecast, which slashes the UK’s growth outlook.

Britain is now the only economy in the G7 projected to shrink in 2023 after chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week made an effort to talk up the economy and growth prospects.

In its latest update, the IMF downgraded its UK gross domestic product forecast once again, predicting a contraction of 0.6 per cent against the 0.3 per cent growth pencilled in last October.

However, the outlook for UK growth in 2024 has been nudged up to 0.9 per cent from the 0.6 per cent expansion previously forecast.

Among the 64 other nations, the IMF’s GDP predictions show growth of 1.4 per cent in the US, 1.8 per cent in Japan and 1.5 per cent in Canada.

Elsewhere in Europe, there are predictions for 0.7 per cent growth in France, 0.6 per cent in Italy and 0.1 per cent in Germany.