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| We're losing £5 million an hour! |
BRITAIN’S economy is in freefall with £5MILLION being wiped off our national wealth EVERY HOUR.
Official figures this week will reveal the picture is far bleaker than the government dared to fear—with the economy set to shrink by £40BILLION this year.
The figures—from government, industry and commerce—will show that:
CONSUMER spending has been slashed
BUSINESS investment is plummeting
HOUSE prices are still falling
EXPORTS are down, despite the weak Pound
It will be far and away the worst set of economic statistics for more than a generation . . . since the days of the miners’ strike and three-day week in 1974.
They reveal that, except for bankrupt Iceland, Britain’s economy is the worst-hit in the developed world.
Even Chancellor Alistair Darling’s own advisers have told him his hopes of a recovery next year are just pipe dreams.
Experts now believe that the economy will shrink by £40 billion this year and another £30 billion next year.
The CBI’s latest survey on Tuesday will show the number of businesses reporting improved takings has hit the lowest level since records began, with consumer spending falling by about 0.4 per cent in the last three months of 2008.
Investment by business is also crumbling, other figures will reveal this week, with details from the last quarter showing it contracting 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
And Nationwide will report that house prices have fallen by a further 1.2 per cent—adding up to a 17 per cent drop over the year.
The export situation is equally dire. The government had hoped they would pave the way to a recovery with the weaker Pound making our goods attractive to foreigners. But even that figure will be down this week.
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said: “These figures are alarming and are another reminder of just how bad the situation we face actually is.
“Gordon Brown’s policies have failed—the country needs a change of direction and fast.“
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