TEN YEARS OF BREXIT BOOM TIME
Boris’s ‘powerhouse economy’ will set up a decade of wealth, says forecast
BORIS Johnson’s Brexit Britain will be among the world’s leading powerhouse economies throughout the next decade, a major report predicts today.
The nation’s financial, manufacturing and service sectors are so strong that the UK will stay near the top of the international economic league table and dwarf France’s economy.
The upbeat picture of Britain’s future outside the EU comes as the Prime Minister looks to tie up a host of lucrative trade deals after we leave on January 31.
Top of the list is a multi-trillion pound
super-trade deal with the
United States.
Mr Johnson and US President Donald Trump are expected to meet within weeks to strike the much-vaunted pact.
And as wealth floods in from a massive trade deal with America, the Prime Minister can look forward to spearheading the nation’s economy throughout what some have already dubbed the “Roaring Twenties”.
The latest data from the influential Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) suggests that despite the uncertainty over Brexit, the French economy failed to overtake the UK economy in 2016-19.
It now expects that by 2034 the British economy will be a quarter larger than France’s.
The details are set out today in the CEBR’s latest update of the annual World Economic League Table (WELT).
Deadlines
The US tops the table, with Britain coming sixth. Others in the top 10 are China (2), Japan (3), Germany (4), India (5), France (7), Italy (8), Brazil (9) and Canada (10).
Britain is also negotiating its future trading relationship with the EU. Mr Johnson has vowed this will be sewn up by the end of next year.
Deals with Australia, Japan and Norway, among others, are also expected to flood in once Britain is free from the shackles of Brussels.
The CEBR notes this month’s decisive election result and highlights the need for the Government to “sort out the country’s future trading relationships”.
The report says: “Despite fluctuations around inventories as various deadlines for leaving the EU came and went, UK growth continued during 2019 at close to trend rate.
“The euphoria associated with ending the Brexit paralysis and the decisive defeat of a hard-left Labour Party in the December 2019 election could revive inward investment in 2020.”
The CEBR expects Britain’s economy to grow annually by 1.9 per cent between now and 2024 and by 1.5 per cent each year between 2024 and 2034. But these figures do not include trade deals which could boost the economy further.
CEBR deputy chairman Douglas McWilliams said: “The World Economic League Table 2020 tracks relative economic progress.
“The biggest surprise is how well the US economy has managed to do, reaching its highest share of world GDP for 12 years.
“Though our view is that it has reached its high watermark – and moving forward the deficit
and its trade disputes will start to hold it back. Still, this is a remarkable performance for an old-world economy. ”
Other indicators are signalling that confidence in the economy is surging now that Britain is on course to leave the EU next month.
Business confidence has soared to its highest level for more than three years, according to a survey of almost 1,000 company directors. The study conducted by the Institute of Directors (IOD) found optimism in the economic outlook had swung 39 per cent points – from the red into the green – between last month and this month.
The confidence indicator, which measures the net balance between firms that are optimistic against those that are pessimistic, had been languishing in the negatives since the spring of last year.
Tej Parikh, the chief economist at the IoD, said: “Britain’s directors will be entering 2020 with a little more festive cheer than might have been expected only a few weeks ago.”
It comes as the latest figures showed the UK economy grew at a faster pace than initially thought.
The Office for National Statistics said output between July and September was boosted by better growth in services and construction than measured in its earlier readings. It revised growth to 0.4 per cent from 0.3 per cent – taking the annual rate of growth to 1.1 per cent.
Mr Johnson has promised a new golden age for Britain during the next 10 years following the Tory election landslide.
He said his blueprint for the country would bring trade deals around the world to boost UK jobs, lead to 40 new hospitals, excellent schools in every community and “the biggest transformation of our infrastructure since theVictorian age”.
During a recent call Mr Johnson and Mr Trump discussed their wish to secure an ambitious post-Brexit trade deal.
The US ambassador to Britain Robert “Woody” Johnson said last week that the country will enter the “Roaring Twenties” once Brexit is delivered at the end of next month. He said: “You have a clear direction, you have really good leadership fired up to get something done. So yes, a Roaring Twenties, absolutely.”