Top boss of US giant who is one of Britain’s biggest overseas investors dismisses Brexit economy warnings
General Electric chief says UK is in a 'good place'
THE boss of one of Britain’s biggest American business partners has slammed Treasury scaremongering and said it’s business as usual after Brexit.
Mark Elborne, president and CEO of General Electric in the UK and Ireland, has backed Britain to stay open for business after voting to leave Europe.
It flies in the face of warnings that foreign companies would pull out of the UK.
Mr Elborne, who was a Remain backer in the run up to the vote, said Britain remains attractive for investors despite the stunning referendum result.
He praised the UK’s “strong export mindset” and described it as “a good place to do business” and “good place to run a business from”.
He said the devalued pound since the referendum would boost exporters as it would make their goods more competitive.
General Electric makes turbines for power stations and jet engines and has its HQ in New York.
It has spent £14billion buying British businesses over the past 12 years and employs 22,000 staff in Britain.
His comments came after George Osborne revealed plans to slash corporation tax to 15 per cent to help keep big business.
Peter Hargreaves, the billionaire investor who helped fund the Leave campaign, welcomed his comments and said it exposed the “scaremongering” of the vocal Remain camp claiming Brexit would drive foreign investors away.
Yesterday, credit rating agency dismissed dire warnings of recession and financial “Armageddon”.
Brexit opponents have repeatedly claimed Britain faces economic meltdown after the out vote.
City financier Standard & Poor’s, however, has forecast the UK would “escape a full-fledged recession”.
Jean-Michel Six, its chief economist for Europe, told : “We’re not in the Armageddon camp.
“Devaluation acts as a shock absorber.
“It stimulates exports and makes the London Stock Exchange more attractive to foreign investors.”
The pound has fallen more than 10 per cent against the dollar since the Brexit vote.
Standard & Poor’s said the weak currency would “boost exports over the next two years”.
It predicts Brexit will cause a 1.2 percentage point drag on economic growth this year and a 1 point hit in 2018.
Growth forecast for 2016 is 1.5 per cent, 2017 is 0.9 per cent, and 2018 is 1 per cent.
Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and India are all lining up to enter trade talks with Britain in the wake of the decision to leave the EU.
Despite President Barack Obama’s warning that the UK would be “at the back of the queue” for any trade deal if it left Europe, there is already growing pressure from American politicians to strike an agreement.
A number of firms which supported the Remain campaign, including HSBC and Barclays, have also committed to Britain since the vote on June 23.
A series of business heavyweights – including vacuum cleaner entrepreneur Sir James Dyson and JCB boss Lord Bamford – have rejected predictions that Brexit will lead to a slump in trade.
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