Britain 'Can't afford to throw money at crisis
Britain has 'limited' room for monoeuvre in tackling the worst global recession in 50 years because of the soaring budget deficit, according to a leading think-thank.
Without a 'credible' framework for restoring the public finances, spending even more taxpayers' money would be a waste of time, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.
It expects Britain's economy to shrink by 3.7% this year - the sharpest fall since the years following World War II - and continue to contract in 2010 by 0.2%
There will also be a substantial rise in unemployement, with the jobless rate reaching 9.5% in 2010 - about 3million.
The outlook could get worse, though, because uncertainties remain over whether the financial sector will suffer more problems and there may be further falls in house process which might prolong the recession, it warned.
It forecasts echo comments made last week by Bank of England governor Mervyn King when he warned against a further financial stimulus because of the threadbare state of public purse.
However, the OECD expects other leading economies to fare even worse this year, with the US shrinking by 4%, the eurozone by 4.1% and jJapan by 6.6%
The warning came as president Barack Obama - a supporter of Gordon Brown's call for international spending plan to lift the world out of recession - flew into London for the G20 summit.
Meanwhile Mr Brown held up 'family values' of hard work and responsibility as a model for the financial markets.
He renew his call for a 'clean-up' of the banking system in a speach to faith the charity leaders in St Paul's Cathedral in London.
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