Daily Mail

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LAST May, at the height of the referendum campaign, with Project Fear in full swing, Internatio­nal Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde gave an apocalypti­c press conference at the Treasury.

She warned that the possible outcomes of leaving the EU ranged from ‘pretty bad to very, very bad’ and that we would be plunged into ‘a self-reinforcin­g cycle’ of low growth and falling share prices.

How wrong she was. Since the Brexit vote, the stock market has hit an all-time high and employment is at record levels.

Undeterred, the IMF was at it again yesterday, describing Britain’s recent performanc­e as ‘tepid’ and cutting our 2017 growth forecast from 2 per cent to 1.7.

Even if accurate, this would hardly be economic Armageddon, but the prediction was seized on by Remainers and their BBC allies as proof that Brexit will bring disaster. Project Fear all over again.

What they failed to mention, however, is that this was the sixth correction the IMF has made to its UK growth forecast in just a year. Over that period, it has gone up and down like a yo-yo.

So the Mail has this question: Do IMF economists have any idea what they’re talking about, or is it all just glorified guesswork? We think we know the answer.

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