Britain’s current account deficit has hit a record high, prompting chancellor George Osborne to speak out against Britain leaving the EU.

The deficit widened to 32.7 billion pounds in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to the Office for National Stastics, standing at the equivalent of 7.0 percent of gross domestic product.

For the third quarter, the deficit was only at 4.3 percent of GDP, pushing the total for 2015 up to £96.2 billion and 5.2 percent of GDP – the highest since records began in 1948.

The figures demonstrate Osborne’s gloomy approach to the economy in 2016 he gave during the Budget earlier this month. In a statement today, he said:

“Today’s figures expose the real danger of economic uncertainty and shows that now is precisely not the time to put our economic security at risk by leaving the EU.”

 

However, the ONS figures also showed the UK economy grew 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, higher than previous estimates of 0.5 percent.

31/03/2016