The UK chancellor has given a downbeat assessment of the economy, saying that growth will slow more than expected as the country hurtles towards Brexit.
Philip Hammond revealed the deteriorating outlook in his Budget speech to Parliament on Wednesday, in which he also outlined cautious spending plans.
Britain's budget forecasters now expect gross domestic product to grow by 1.5 per cent this year, compared with a forecast of 2.0 per cent made in March, reflecting a slowdown as the Brexit vote weighs.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also cut its GDP growth forecasts in 2019 and 2020 to 1.3 per cent in both years. For 2021 and 2022, economic growth will remain weak at 1.5 and 1.6 per cent respectively.
It is the first time in a generation that growth is forecast to grow below 2% every year.
"There is a recognition from the OBR that the growth outlook is dire at a time when the world economy is enjoying a synchronised upswing. Germany is enjoying a boom and even Italy is growing faster than the UK," Daiwa Capital Markets Europe's Chris Scicluna said.
The OBR's pessimistic view on growth was based largely on a cut to its projections for productivity, the Achilles heel of Britain's economy since the global financial crisis, due to shortfalls in skills training and infrastructure.
Sterling initially fell as Mr Hammond announced the weaker forecasts for the economy, but rose later to hit a three-week high against the US dollar.
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Mr Hammond had been under pressure to use his Budget statement to turn around the fortunes of Prime Minister Theresa May. Some Conservative MPs, still smarting from an election mauling in June, had even called on Mrs May to fire him for his cautious approach to Brexit and to the public finances.
The chancellor set aside £3 billion to prepare for Brexit and offered a package of initiatives to build new homes, help first-time buyers and spend more on the heath service, but he otherwise sidestepped eye-popping initiatives.
He tried to paint an optimistic vision of a "global Britain" that would embrace the technological revolution and capitalise on the opportunities presented by leaving the EU. He also promised an approach that would be "balanced" amid pleas to end austerity.
But opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose fortunes have been on the rise of late, was quick to criticise the government's plans, highlighting that many in the country are struggling.
"Our country is marked by growing inequality and injustice," he said. "We were promised, with lots of hype, a revolutionary budget. The reality is nothing has changed. People were looking for help from this budget and they've been let down."
On the Budget deficit, Mr Hammond struck a more optimistic view, saying it would fall below 2 per cent of GDP next year.
However, Britain still faces relatively high debt.
Public borrowing rose more than expected in October, driven by higher borrowing costs. Debt will peak at 86.5 per cent of GDP this year, Mr Hammond said. That compared with less than 40 per cent in 2007, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.
Mr Hammond said he was sticking to the Conservatives' priority since coming to power in 2010 of fixing the public finances.
"We took over an economy with the highest budget deficit in our peacetime history," he told Parliament.
"Since then, thanks to the hard work of the British people, that deficit has been shrinking and next year will be below 2 per cent. But our debt is still too high," he said.
The Chancellor made no mention of defence in his speech. However, hidden in the small print of Wednesday’s Budget was a £100 million cut to the Foreign Office budget in 2019-2020, just as the UK is set to officially leave the EU.
Commenting on the cut, Tom Cargill, Executive Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, told The National: "If it was a decently funded department, then it would be less of a problem. But £100 million for the Foreign Office is a big deal – it works out as around an eight per cent cut to its budget.
“The fact that so-called ‘global Britain’ is going to cut eight per cent of its Foreign Office budget – in the precise year that we’re due to leave the EU – is not a huge sign of the recognition that we’re going to have to be spending more, not less, on our international engagements in the coming years.”
UAE - India ties
The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner after the US and China
Annual bilateral trade between India and the UAE has crossed US$ 60 billion
The UAE is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India
Indians comprise the largest community with 3.3 million residents in the UAE
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi first visited the UAE in August 2015
His visit on August 23-24 will be the third in four years
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visited India in February 2016
Sheikh Mohamed was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2017
Modi will visit Bahrain on August 24-25
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Ant-Man%20and%20the%20Wasp%3A%20Quantumania
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPeyton%20Reed%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Rudd%2C%20Evangeline%20Lilly%2C%20Jonathan%20Majors%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
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if you go
The flights
Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.
The tour
Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.
The five pillars of Islam
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Scream%20VI
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Matt%20Bettinelli-Olpin%20and%20Tyler%20Gillett%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Melissa%20Barrera%2C%20Jasmin%20Savoy%20Brown%2C%20Jack%20Champion%2C%20Dermot%20Mulroney%2C%20Jenna%20Ortega%2C%20Hayden%20Panettiere%20and%20Courteney%20Cox%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
