‘The answer is that for the foreseeable future it is negative.’
In yet more evidence of the harmful impact of Brexit, the head of the Bank of England has warned that the decision to leave the EU will damage the UK economy “for the foreseeable future”.
In a speech in Washington on Saturday, Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey said “making an economy less open restricts growth over the long term”.
He said: “For nearly a decade, I have been very careful to say that I take no position per se on Brexit, which was a decision by the people of the UK, and it is our job as public officials to implement it.
“But, I quite often get asked a second question: what’s the impact on economic growth? And as a public official, I have to answer that question.
“And the answer is that for the foreseeable future it is negative.”
He went on to add that over the longer term “there will be – because trade adjusts – some at least partial rebalancing”, saying: “Making an economy less open restricts growth over the long term.”
His comments come after Chancellor Rachel Reeves last week acknowledged the disastrous economic impact Brexit has had on the UK economy, ahead of the budget next month.
Reeves said that Brexit is partly to blame for the estimated £50bn blackhole in the economy that she is likely going to have to address at her autumn budget.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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