By Hugo Duncan
3 September 2013
Daily Mail
On the up: The OECD now predicted the UK economy, the world's sixth largest, will grow by 1.5 per cent this year, up from a forecast of 0.8 per cent in May
Boost: The forecast is the latest positive economic news for Chancellor George Osborne
3 September 2013
Daily Mail
Britain will have the best-performing major economy in the developed world for the rest of the year, an international watchdog said yesterday.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it expects growth of more than 0.9 per cent in the UK between July and September and around 0.8 per cent in the final quarter of the year, as the recovery gathers pace.
The projections are stronger than anything seen in Britain since early 2010 and better than the growth rates expected in the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy.
On the up: The OECD now predicted the UK economy, the world's sixth largest, will grow by 1.5 per cent this year, up from a forecast of 0.8 per cent in May
The Paris-based think-tank pencilled in growth of 1.5 per cent for Britain in 2013 - nearly double the 0.8 per cent previously expected.
Downing Street said it was ‘one of a number of indicators that point in a favourable direction’. It came as the boss of Lloyds Banking Group said Government action to boost mortgage lending is already proving a ‘game-changer for the economy’.
George Osborne’s Help to Buy scheme has been heavily criticised amid fears it will push up prices rather than boost housebuilding.
But Antonio Horta-Osorio played down talk of a new housing bubble. 'This is a temporary scheme to correct a market anomaly,’ he said.
And figures published yesterday showed the construction industry grew at its fastest pace for six years last month.
Boost: The forecast is the latest positive economic news for Chancellor George Osborne
