'Imperative' to resolve Brexit uncertainty 'immediately': IMF

The International Monetary Fund said Monday it was "imperative" to resolve the uncertainty surrounding how Britain will leave the European Union, which it said was posing a threat to the British and global economy.

"We have already seen the negative effect of this uncertainty on British investment," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters in Davos ahead of the opening of the World Economic Forum.

"It is imperative for leaders to resolve this uncertainty immediately."

The IMF had already calculated that if Britain crashed out of the EU without a deal the result would be "a decline in long-run ... GDP of five to eight per cent", she said.

"So that would be quite significant. It is absolutely essential that this uncertainty is resolved sooner than later," she said.

Gopinath's comments came after the IMF released an update to its global economic forecast, showing that a range of uncertainties, including Brexit, but also US-China trade confrontations, were threatening to drag down global growth even further.

The World Economic Outlook cut the global GDP forecast for this year to 3.5 per cent from the 3.7 per cent projected in October. And for 2020 the estimate was trimmed to...