Britain faces £58.7b bill for leaving European Union

London

THE Brexit bill is in.

Some £58.7 billion (S$104.7 billion), or almost half of the £122 billion in extra borrowing the government will need over the next five years, is directly related to Britain quitting the European Union (EU), the official budget watchdog said on Thursday as Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond recalibrated fiscal policy. Lower migration alone - a key goal of Brexit campaigners - will add £16 billion to borrowing through 2020-21, while weaker productivity accounts for £18.1 billion and higher inflation, £10.1 billion. Last year, being an EU member cost the UK a net £8.5 billion.