LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will slip back into a modest recession early next year, the OECD said on Monday, slashing its 2012 growth forecast and urging the Bank of England to expand its asset purchase programme significantly to boost output.

As Chancellor George Osborne was preparing to announce help for small businesses and other measures in his Autumn Statement on Tuesday to try and revive economic growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the government may have to relax its deep austerity drive if conditions deteriorate further.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will slip back into a modest recession early next year, the OECD said on Monday, slashing its 2012 growth forecast and urging the Bank of England to expand its asset purchase programme significantly to boost output.

As finance minister George Osborne was preparing to announce help for small businesses and other measures in his Autumn Statement on Tuesday to try and revive economic growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the government may have to relax its deep austerity drive if conditions deteriorate further.

LONDON (Reuters) – British gilt futures slid with German Bunds on Friday as investors took profits following recent gains and markets waited for progress on how policymakers will tackle the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.

Worries about Europe’s plight have eroded risk appetite, boosting British government debt and pushing its benchmark bond yields close to record lows this month.

LONDON (Reuters) – Chancellor George Osborne will set out his plan next week to revive a stagnant economy and avoid a double-dip recession in a growth package hamstrung by the euro zone debt crisis, tight public finances and a strict austerity drive.

Under acute pressure to do more to kickstart growth after a year of stagnation, he has little room for big handouts and may have to rely on cutting red tape and encouraging the private sector to spend more.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s economy grew 0.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, official data confirmed on Wednesday, in what is likely to be the last piece of moderately upbeat news for some time as the country veers perilously close to recession.

Growth was the best in any quarter for a year, but was driven by factors that are unlikely to withstand the deepening euro zone debt crisis and ongoing government fiscal contraction.

LONDON (Reuters) – The economy grew 0.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, official data confirmed on Wednesday, in what is likely to be the last piece of moderately upbeat news for some time as the country veers perilously close to recession.

Growth was the best in any quarter for a year, but was driven by factors that are unlikely to withstand the deepening euro zone debt crisis and ongoing government fiscal contraction.

MIDDLESBROUGH, England (Reuters) – In the former industrial powerhouse of Middlesbrough, a skyline once dominated by smoke-belching chimneys and steel mill furnaces now features a monumental piece of public art and an elegant new state college clad in silver and bronze.

The town’s harsh industrial landscape inspired film director Ridley Scott, a son of north-east England, in his vision for the science fiction film “Blade Runner.”

MIDDLESBROUGH, England, Nov 22 (Reuters) – In the
former British industrial powerhouse of Middlesbrough, a skyline
once dominated by smoke-belching chimneys and steel mill
furnaces now features a monumental piece of public art and an
elegant new state college clad in silver and bronze.

The town’s harsh industrial landscape inspired film director
Ridley Scott, a son of north-east England, in his vision for the
science fiction film “Blade Runner”.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain borrowed slightly less than expected in October, leaving the government on track to meet its deficit reduction goals this year, but weak growth and the euro zone crisis are increasingly expected to derail its attempts to balance the books.

Figures published a week before Chancellor George Osborne presents his autumn budget statement to parliament showed public sector net borrowing excluding financial interventions fell to 6.498 billion pounds in October, down 16 percent on the year.

LONDON (Reuters) – British exporters must target fast-growing economies outside the euro zone and the United States to end years of underperformance and give the struggling UK economy a shot in the arm, the Confederation of British Industry said on Monday.

The CBI said a strategy to boost exports to countries like China, India and Brazil would give the stagnant economy a lift worth 20 billion pounds, or 1.5 percent of GDP, by 2020.