"In reality, it makes very little difference whether the economy expanded modestly in the first quarter, contracted marginally or was flat"
- Howard Archer, Chief European and UK Economist at IHS Global Insight
Britain is likely to avoid from falling into a triple-dip recession, senior Conservatives believe. Official figures, to be published later this week are expected to show that hat the economy grew 0.1% in the first three months of the year, following a 0.3% contraction at the end of 2012. However, experts are cautioning that it may be a very close-run result as snowstorms in January and March, and ongoing pressure in the construction sector, will weighed on the recovery. Last week, the IMF slashed nation's growth forecasts from 1% to 0.7% for this year, while the 2014 projection were cut from 1.9% to 1.5%, as the private sector was hampered by a lack of credit and economic uncertainty.
"No one is talking about green shoots, but there are reasons to think that the worst might be over and a recovery can now begin," a senior Conservative told The Daily Telegraph.
Howard Archer, Chief European and UK Economist at IHS Global Insight told HuffPost UK: "In reality, it makes very little difference whether the economy expanded modestly in the first quarter, contracted marginally or was flat. However, it would be good for psychological and confidence reasons if the economy could dodge contraction in the first quarter and therefore avoid nasty and potentially damaging headlines about "triple dip recession"."
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