Spring Budget: OBR upgrades 2018 growth forecasts

The Office for Budget Responsiblity has upgraded its forecasts for UK growth to 1.5% for 2018, slightly above the 1.4% it predicted in November.

Related topics:  Finance News
Rozi Jones
13th March 2018
Philip Hammond

In today's Spring Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond said that forecasts are “there to be beaten”.

Economic growth in 2017 was recorded at 1.7%, higher than the 1.5% predicted by the OBR in November's Budget, where it expected growth to fall to 1.4% in 2018 and 1.3% in 2019 and 2020.

Last month, the ONS revised down Q4 GDP growth to 0.4%, making the UK the slowest-growing major economy in the world.

GDP was also downgraded on an annual basis, increasing by 1.7% between 2016 and 2017 - a downward revision of 0.1% from the preliminary estimate and slightly lower than the 1.9% growth seen between 2015 and 2016.

However Schroders recently upgraded its figures for 2018 and 2019 by 0.1% and now expects growth of 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.

This, it says, is despite the UK going from being one of the best-performing economies between 2013 and 2016, to being the worst performing economy in the G7.

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