Bulgaria Loses Billions Annually Due to Delayed Schengen Membership, Warns Economy Minister
Bulgaria stands to lose approximately BGN 1 billion each year due to its continued exclusion from full membership in the Schengen area
Britain's economy will shrink by 0.4% next year as inflation remains high and companies hold back on investment, which will have bleak implications for long-term growth, predicted the Confederation of Business Industry (CBI).
"The UK is in stagflation - with rising inflation, negative growth, falling productivity and business investment. Firms see potential growth opportunities, but ... headwinds are causing them to hold back on investment in 2023," CBI director-general Tony Danker said. .
The forecast marked a sharp drop from the last one in June, when it predicted growth of 1.0% in 2023.
Britain has been hit hard by a sharp rise in natural gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as an incomplete labor market recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and persistently weak investment and productivity.
According to the CBI, unemployment will rise and peak from 3.6% currently to 5.0% in late 2023 and early 2024.
British inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October, which has sharply squeezed consumption, and the organization predicts it will fall slowly, reaching an average of 6.7% next year and 2.9% in 2024.
The GDP forecast is not as bleak as that of the UK government's Office for Budget Responsibility, which last month predicted a 1.4% decline in 2023.
But the CBI's forecast is in line with that of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which expects Britain to be the worst-performing economy in Europe next year. The CBI predicts that business investment at the end of 2024 will be 9% below the pre-pandemic level and output per worker 2% below.
To avoid this, the CBI called on the government to make Britain's post-Brexit work visa system more flexible and provide greater tax incentives for investment.
"If no action is taken, we will see a decade of lost growth. GDP is a simple multiplier of two factors: people and their productivity. But we don't have the people we need, nor the productivity," Danker said.
Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook
Write to us at editors@novinite.com
Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg
/BGNES
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
Tragedy struck the Ukrainian port city of Odesa as Russia unleashed a devastating assault, claiming the lives of five people and leaving over 30 injured
Chinese President Xi Jinping is embarking on a six-day tour of Europe amidst escalating trade tensions with the European Union and concerns over China's support for Russia. The trip, Xi's first to the continent since 2019, includes visits to France, Serbi
During the World Economic Forum, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken raised concerns over Russia's unprecedented pace of weapon production, comparing it to historical records, including the Cold War era of the USSR.
A recent report by a group of Western insurers has shed light on Russia's ability to circumvent Western oil sanctions, revealing that measures aimed at capping Russian oil prices have proven ineffective and have inadvertently fueled a surge in gray zone a
The impending enforcement of the new mobilization law, slated to target all able-bodied men between the ages of 25 and 59, has instilled a sense of dread and desperation among Ukrainians
A devastating Russian rocket attack on an educational institution in the picturesque seaside park of Ukraine's Black Sea port, Odesa, has left a trail of destruction and claimed the lives of four individuals
UN Happiness Report: Bulgaria's Astonishing Leap in Rankings
Bulgaria: 3 Regions With Lowest Life Expectancy - EU Report 2022