MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2023) The United Kingdom is facing the prospect of five years of lost economic growth and has a 60% chance of falling into recession by the end of 2024, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said in its latest economic outlook published on Wednesday.
"The UK is on course to experience five years of lost economic growth, the longest since the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis," the institute said.
The country's GDP will barely grow by 0.4% in 2023 and by 0.3% next year, the researchers predicted.
"There are, in fact, even chances that GDP growth will contract by the end of 2023 and a roughly 60 per cent risk of a recession at the end of 2024," the report read.
The report also warned of the detrimental impact sluggish economic growth would have on low-income citizens.
"Our projections for the General Election year of 2024 suggest that inequalities of income and assets will grow, with little real income growth for many, low or no savings, higher debt, as well as elevated housing, energy and food costs. As a consequence, the shortfall in the real disposable incomes of households in the bottom half of the income distribution is set to reach some 17 per cent in the period 2019-2024," the think tank said.
The UK, along with other European countries, has been facing inflation and a massive energy crisis as part of the post-pandemic global economic recession. The situation has been further exacerbated against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, as hostilities and Western sanctions against Moscow have led to disruptions of supply chains across the globe.
