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About Britain - The Economy
The UK is a leading trading power and financial centre, and deploys
an essentially capitalistic economy. It is one of the quartets of
trillion dollar economies of Western Europe.
Over the past two decades the government has greatly reduced public
ownership and contained the growth of social security programmes.
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European
standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour
force. The UK has large coal, natural gas and oil reserves, primary
energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares
of any industrial nation.
Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services,
account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues
to decline in importance.
The Economy has grown steadily, at just above 3% for the
last several years but is expected to fall to approximately 2.3% in 2008. The Government has so far opted not to take part
in European economic union. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has identified
some key economic tests to determine whether the UK should join the
common currency system, but it will largely be a political decision.
A wide range of incentives are available to companies, joint ventures,
partnerships and other commercial entities investing in the UK. Like
most countries, the UK imposes detailed regulatory requirements on
banks (these are administered by the Bank of England) and insurance
companies (administered by the Department of Trade and Industry).
There is no legislation restricting foreign investors in the UK. Foreign
investment in manufacturing and internationally traded services is
encouraged. Foreign companies and individuals may in general establish
or acquire businesses in the UK and buy securities, land or mortgages
without a special license. However, in certain strategic sectors such
as defence, foreign investments may be regarded as against the UK's
national interest.
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