London/Zurich — Bank of England governor Mark Carney said Brexit had already cost the UK economy billions of pounds in lost output and the economy was not benefiting yet from a global pick-up. Asked in a BBC radio interview to quantify the damage from Brexit, he said the economy is now about one percentage point smaller than it would have been had the 2016 EU referendum gone the other way, and that the gap will widen to about two percentage points by the end of 2018. "What it works out to is tens of billions of pounds lower economic activity," he said. "The question then is how do we make that up over time by growing above potential." Based on the estimated size of the economy at the end of 2017, the lost output would amount to about £40bn. That’s equivalent to two "Brexit buses", a reference to the £350m a week — or almost £20bn a year — that Leave campaigners said would be available for spending after Britain stopped contributing to the EU budget. The Times newspaper reported this...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.