IMF warns Darling to avoid gamble with UK’s finances
IMF urges Darling to avoid gambling with UK’s finances
The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged chancellor Alistair Darling to
avoid gambling with UK’s finances by using his expected autumn overhaul of the
Treasury’s fiscal rules to try to borrow his way out of economic trouble.
IMF reduced its forecasts for Britain’s growth and warned the country faced
two years of economic pain, The Times reports.
It said the Treasury was already next year set to breach the rule capping
national debt at 40% of GDP as it slid deeper into the red.
The IMF said a range of economic woes would cut UK growth this year to only
1.4% – down from 1.7% it predicted in the spring and far below the chancellor’s
projected growth of at least 1.75%.
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