UK and Europe to see loss of growth because of uncertainty: Tharman on Brexit

THE United Kingdom (UK) and Europe are set to see a loss of growth because of the uncertainty of the next few years, said Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Friday night.

He said this in a Facebook post following Britain's vote in a referendum to leave the European Union (EU).

"Divided We Leave," Mr Tharman's post began.

"That's what the UK referendum result looks like. London and Scotland voted to stay in the EU; Wales and the English provinces outside London voted to leave. The majority of the educated class voting to stay; the less educated to leave. Those doing well in their jobs and incomes voting to stay; those who felt they've been losing out voted to leave. Many more of the young voted to stay; old voting to leave," it continued.

"It will take some time to draw the full lessons of the vote. The big issues are not about financial markets or economics. The markets will react negatively, and overshoot, but this will not be like 2008 when the house came down. There will be a loss of growth in the UK and Europe because of the uncertainty of the next few years, and the weaknesses there will also hurt the rest of the world including us in Asia."

For more coverage of the EU referendum, visit bt.sg/BrexiT