LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund
said on Tuesday that it had cut its forecast for British
economic growth this year due to disruptions from the Omicron
variant of the coronavirus and supply constraints, but raised
its estimate for growth in 2023.
The IMF said it now expected British gross domestic product
would expand by 4.7% in 2022 and by 2.3% in 2023, compared with
its previous forecasts - made in October - of 5.0% and 1.9%.
The new forecasts were made in an update of the IMF's World
Economic Outlook. The cut to Britain's expected growth rate in
2022 was the smallest among the Group of Seven economies with
the exception of Japan.
"In the United Kingdom, disruptions related to Omicron and
supply constraints - particularly in labour and energy markets -
mean that growth is revised down," the IMF said.
(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)