IMF raises UK growth forecast
22 Jan 2014
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply increased its growth forecast for the UK economy.
It now expects the economy to grow 2.4% this year - faster than any other major European economy - against its previous forecast of 1.9%. In 2015, it expects growth of 2.2%.
The Treasury said the new UK forecast was further evidence that the government's economic plan was working.
The IMF also raised its global growth outlook slightly to 3.7%.
"Global growth is expected to increase in 2014 after having been stuck in a low gear in 2013," the IMF said in its report.
The world's largest economy, the US, is expected to grow by 2.8% this year, an improvement on the previous estimate of 2.6% that the IMF made in October.
It expects the euro area as a whole to grow by 1%. "The euro area is turning a corner from recession to recovery," the IMF said. However, it added the pickup would be weaker in economies that have been facing "financial stress", namely Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal.
The IMF also upgraded its forecast for the Chinese economy to 7.5% this year.
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