Steel shrivels while Britain’s balance of payments crisis grows
A record balance of payments deficit of 96.2bn (5.2% of GDP) for 2015, and 32.7bn (7% of GDP) for the fourth quarter alone - both higher in percentage terms than in any year since the second world war - and the first, instinctive reaction of the government is to let what is left of our steel industry go hang, so that imports can be boosted even further.
These latest figures are horrifying in both cash terms and as a percentage of GDP. During the war, when this country was, economically, on its uppers, the balance of payments deficit reached some 10%, financed by the Lend Lease arrangements with Washington and by running down our overseas assets.
Related: Steel crisis: builders, manufacturers and carmakers urged to buy British
The crunch has now come with the impact austerity has had on business investment and the export sector
Continue reading...