KPMG forecasts no-deal Brexit recession in 2020
Britain could plunge into its first recession in a decade should the government quit the EU without a deal, according to the latest in a string of gloomy forecasts made by the Bank of England and the Treasury’s independent forecasting unit, the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Economists at the accountancy firm, KPMG said that the effects to Britain’s trade and business confidence of a no-deal Brexit would lead to the economy shrinking by 1.5% next year. Consumer spending, which has provided between 60% and 80% of growth in the economy over the last three years, would also be heavily affected.
Yael Selfin, KPMG UK’s chief economist, said she expected that in every quarter of next year the economy would contract, leading to the first recession since 2009 and the aftermath of the financial crisis.
The economy has already slowed in recent months, with only the services sector continuing to expand, according to official figures. An industry survey by business advisers, BDO found that optimism in the sector fell dramatically last month as the prospect of a recession became a possibility.
A survey of more than 4,000 services firms found that optimism was now at levels not seen since 2013.
Thailand's finance ministry on Thursday cut back its 2020 economic forecast to a record 8.5% contraction in GDP. This is a substantial contrast from a 2.8% growth it expected in January as the COVID-19 situation continued to worsen. The ministry’s ...
Britain on Wednesday signed a supply deal for up to 60 million doses of a possible COVID-19 vaccine that is being developed by pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. However, ...
The second quarter had seen South Korea slipping into recession. This came to be the country’s sharpest economic downturn in more than two decades as the novel coronavirus crisis weighed on exports and social distancing measures halted ...
The self-driving car company Waymo LLC and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI) signed a partnership deal on Wednesday to fully develop self-driving cars, pickups, and SUVs. Waymo, an Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O) unit, and Fiat Chrysler said ...
On Tuesday, Ebay Inc. (EBAY.O) announced that it had reached a deal to sell off its classified ads business unit to Adevinta ASA (AD5B), a Norway-based classified ads publisher owned by Danish media company Schibsted (SBSTA.OL). The classified ...