The World Trade Organization and Bank of England are warning Britons of the consequences Brexit could have on the country’s economy.
WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said at a conference in London on Tuesday that trade would “cost more for the UK” if the British choose to leave the European Union in a referendum on June 23.
Trade but on ‘worse terms’
With Brexit, British exporters could have to pay an extra 5.6 billion pounds ($8.2 billion, 7.2 billion euros) of annual customs duties while the country will have to clinch trade deals with the EU or any of the 58 states in free-trade deals with the bloc, Azevedo said at the World Trade Symposium.
“This would probably entail negotiations,” he said. “In the meantime, while trade would continue, it could be on very different terms and perhaps worse.”
The WTO chief further warned that if the UK chooses to leave the bloc, it “would cost more for the UK to trade with the same markets –…