The British growth forecast was downgraded on Wednesday by the British Chambers of Commerce, who now expect the economy to grow more slowly than expected over the next three years.

Weaker trade and manufacturing data led to the revision, and the BCC now expect the economy to grow by 2.4 percent in 2015, rather than the 2.6 percent previously estimated. Growth will then increase to 2.5 percent in 2016 and 2017, also slightly slower than the original 2.7 percent estimate.

John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said in a statement that the economy had been “hit badly by falling global prospects”, and that “our persistently weak trade performance and current account balance are impacting our overall growth.”

Third quarter growth was lower than expected, which contributed to the BCC’s decision. The UK grew by 0.5% between July and September, 0.2 percent slower than the second quarter.

The BCC also stated that is expected interest rates to stay at their six year low 0.5 percent for the foreseeable future, rising in the third quarter of next year.

09/12/2015