British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown used his annual budget on this afternoon to announce an expected cut in his growth forecast for 2003.
"I now expect growth this year will be 2 to 2.5 per cent, double the euro area and Japan and about the same level as in America," Mr Brown told parliament.
He maintained his 2004 growth forecast of three to 3.5 per cent, predicting the same rate of expansion in 2005.
In his pre-budget report last November, Mr Brown forecast growth of 2.5-3 per cent for this year and three to 3.5 per cent for 2004.
Private sector economists are on average predicting growth of 1.9 per cent this year and 2.3 per cent for next year.
Mr Brown said the biggest risk to British economic growth was a slowing eurozone economy and forecast UK inflation of 2.5 per cent for next year and the years after, reaffirming that figure as the inflation target for the Bank of England.