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UK 'close match to euro-zone'

12 April 2012

EUROPHILES received a boost as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that the UK's economy is more closely aligned with the euro-zone than those of some members of the single currency.

The Paris-based think-tank said that the difference in growth rates between Britain and the euro-zone was minimal, output gaps - a measure of slack in the economy - were almost identical and long-term interest rates were practically the same. Sustainable convergence is one of Chancellor Gordon Brown's five economic tests for euro entry.

OECD economist Vincent Koen said: 'Since the launch of the euro, growth has been marginally stronger in Euroland than in the UK. We see growth slightly weaker in Euroland than in the UK in 2002, but the difference is minimal.'

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Gordon Brown
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