Britain: BOE, OECD warn on hard Brexit

Six weeks to October 31 ...

Six weeks to a deadline for Britain - possibly - to crash out of the EU ....

With no exit deal with Brussels.

It's one reason why world growth is slowing to its lowest rates in a decade, according to the OECD Thursday.

Chief economist Laurence Boone.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) OECD CHIEF ECONOMIST, LAURENCE BOONE, SAYING:

"We very much fear that it's becoming entrenched at low level. All the risks we look at are biased to the downsides, you know them - it's trade, it's Brexit, it's financial markets, it could be oil prices."

For Britain, she said, a hard Brexit would slash two per cent off GDP.

Though that's not as severe as the possible 5.5 per cent mentioned by the governor of the Bank of England earlier this month.

On Thursday, it too restated its Brexit concerns - talking of "entrenched uncertainty", and warning signs in productivity and job creation.

Its policy decision left rates on hold.

But with inflation below target, the statements underpin the possibility of rate cuts down the line.

Not that British consumers necessarily need them.

An unexpected August drop in retail sales shows little evidence of Brexit impact, new data suggests.

And retailer Next - which trades from around 500 stores in the UK and Ireland - blamed hot weather for a disappointing recent performance.