IMF gives British economic forecasts biggest upgrade in G7

IMF gives British economic forecasts biggest upgrade in G7

Britain has been given the biggest economic upgrade of any G7 country after forecasters at the International Monetary Fund were forced to concede they had been too gloomy . Stronger than expected economic performance so far this year means UK GDP is on track to contract by 0.3pc across 2023, half the 0.6pc fall the fund (IMF) forecast in January , according to its latest World Economic Outlook. Britain is still expected to have the weakest performance of any large economy. It had the best growth in the G7 last year and rivals are making up the gap. Meanwhile, the IMF warned that successive interest rate rises, deteriorating financial conditions and the ongoing war in Ukraine mean the world is entering a “perilous phase” with a 15pc chance that global growth will come almost to a halt. The UK's upgrade was one of the largest in the world, behind only Spain and Russia at 0.4 percentage points, and Saudi Arabia, where the GDP forecast was upgraded by 0.5 points. It was also the most positive in the G7. Germany was downgraded from 0.1pc growth to a 0.1pc contraction, while Japan's growth projection was cut by 0.5 points to 1.3pc. Italy