Experts lift UK growth forecast to 1.8% in exports boom

Top economic forecasters will tomorrow dramatically raise their predictions for UK growth, citing a boom in the global economy and rising trade for the brighter outlook.

The respected EY Item Club will say the economy will grow by 1.8 per cent this year – sharply higher than its earlier forecast of 1.3 per cent.

The organisation, which uses the Treasury’s own model to make its forecasts, expects there will be a marked slowdown in the consumer side of the economy as households rein in spending after the recent credit-fuelled shopping spree.