British 2025 GDP growth forecast cut in half to 1 pct: chancellor

LONDON -- Britain's economy is expected to grow by only one percent in 2025, half of the previous forecast of 2 percent, said the country's finance minister on Wednesday.

Britain's public finance watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has revised down its 2025 growth forecasts in the latest publication, confirmed British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in her Spring Statement in the House of Commons.

"Around one-third of the lower growth this year reflects what appears to be structural weakness. This is concentrated in productivity," said the OBR. "The remaining two-thirds is due to what appear to be cyclical, temporary factors including higher interest rate expectations, increases in gas prices, and elevated uncertainty."

Highlighting the current significant uncertainty, the OBR said: "If global trade disputes escalate to include 20 percentage point rises in tariffs between the USA and the rest of the world, this could reduce UK GDP (gross domestic product) by a peak of 1 percent."

Britain's annual CPI inflation is also projected to increase from 2.5 percent in 2024 to 3.2 percent in 2025, 0.6 percentage points higher than the October forecast, said the independent watchdog.