Brexit Caused A Loss Of Rs 1 Lakh Per Household In UK, Says Economist

The 2016 Brexit referendum, which caused Britain to leave the European Union (EU) single market, caused a loss of business investment worth 29 billion pounds (Rs 3,529 crore), or 1,000 pounds (Rs 100,7070) per household, according to a Bank of England policymaker. The Guardian quoted bank official Jonathan Haskel as saying that private sector investment "stopped in its tracks" in the years following the UK's decision to quit the EU. The UK formally ended its association with the EU four years after Brexit, on January 31, 2020, soon after Boris Johnson won a resounding election victory for the Conservatives.

Mr Haskel said in the aftermath of the vote, the UK began to fall behind the trend of previous six years and "suffered much more" compared to other major economies.

Speaking to The Overshoot, a finance newsletter, the Bank of England official said, "Yes, we suffered much more. A bit of that is that we have this larger financial sector. But I think it really goes back to Brexit."

"If you look in the period up to 2016, it's true that we had a bigger slowdown in productivity up to 2016, but we had a lot of investment. We had a big boom between 2012-ish to 2016. But then investment just plateaued from 2016, and we dropped to the bottom of G7 countries," he added.

This comes two weeks after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended Brexit as a "huge opportunity".

"In the three years since leaving the EU, we've made huge strides in harnessing the freedoms unlocked by Brexit to tackle generational challenges," Mr Sunak said in a statement released on the third anniversary of Britain leaving the EU.

"I'm determined to ensure the benefits of Brexit continue to empower communities and businesses right across the country," the Prime Minister said.

However, an Ipsos poll in January found 45 per cent of people in Britain think Brexit is going worse than they expected.