§ Mr. HowardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his statement of 27 November 2002,Official Report, column 318, on what evidence he based his statement that there is the worst global slowdown for almost 30 years; and what estimates he has made of world GDP growth in each year since 1972. [85540]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 5 December 2002]: According to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database, available on the IMF's website, World GDP growth fell from 4.7 per cent. in 2000 to 2.2 per cent. in 2001. This was the largest annual fall in World GDP growth since it fell from 6.9 per cent. to 2.8 per cent. in 1974.