Fidelity's Greetham: UK on brink of recession

The UK could fall back into recession at the end of this year, as high oil prices and the impact of the Japan earthquake weigh on global economic growth, said Fidelity's Trevor Greetham.

Speaking at a Morningstar Investment Conference, the manager of the £549m Fidelity Multi Asset Strategic fund said while the UK is tightening its fiscal policy, monetary policy in the US is loose and therefore supportive of growth. He said: “There is a big difference between the US and the UK – the UK is on the edge of recession. “Whereas the UK is tightening fiscal policy, the US is not. It has a loose policy and will tighten gradually.” However, Greetham added the Bank of England is right not to have raised interest rates yet. “CPI at the moment is 4.1%, which is far too high....