The Dirtier The Brexit The More Damage To Britain Warns IMF Boss Lagarde express.co.uk

Britain’s economy will shrink if the country leaves the European Union next year without a Brexit deal IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

The IMF said it expected Britain's economy would grow by about 1.5 percent a year in 2018 and 2019 if a broad Brexit agreement was struck, compared with about 1.75 percent if it had stayed in.

Mlle Lagarde, who was presenting the IMF annual report on Britain's economy, added: "A more disruptive departure will have a much worse outcome.

"Let me be clear, compared with today's smooth single market, all the likely Brexit scenarios will have costs for the economy and to a lesser extent as well for the EU.

"The larger the impediments to trade in the new relationship, the costlier it will be. This should be fairly obvious, but it seems that sometimes it is not."