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Ten Damning Facts On Osborne's Failure To Get Britain Exporting

Ten Damning Facts On Osborne's Failure To Get Britain Exporting
Asa Bennett
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Britain's Chancellor George Osborne speaks to introduce International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a press conference at HM Treasury in London, Friday, June 6, 2014. The International Monetary Fund will publish the UKâs 2014 Article IV Concluding Statement, the Article IV is the IMFâs regular bilateral surveillance of the UK economy and the governmentâs policies. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Cameron used a trip to Liverpool on Monday to boast about the coalition's commitment to get British businesses exporting as part of the planned economic recovery.

"There's nothing more important in my long-term economic plan for Britain than making this the most creative country on earth - at the forefront of the latest industry, making things and selling them to the world," he said in a speech to mark the opening of the International Festival of Business.

Cameron's aim, while laudable, still seems far off, as chancellor George Osborne planned four years ago to build an economy "where we save, invest and export". The UK still imports more than it exports, government schemes have been failing and the official predictions for Britain's export prospects look gloomy.

HuffPostUK has rounded up ten seriously awkward facts about Osborne's failure to get Britain's exports off the ground.

George Osborne's Exporting Awkward Moments
£1.5 billion on a scheme that has helped no-one yet...(01 of10)
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A £1.5bn direct lending scheme launched in 2013, aiming to offer loans of between £5 million and £50 million to overseas buyers looking to buy from British exporters, has received only 15 inquiries, with just one firm applying for support.
A £5 billion exports scheme did nothing for 2 years...(02 of10)
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A £5bn export refinancing scheme, launched in July 2012 and intended to be running by the end of that year, has only now been launched this April.
Another scheme helped just five businesses (03 of10)
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The government ditched its "Export Enterprise Finance Guarantee" scheme after it helped only five firms.
The UK hasn't improved much over the last year(04 of10)
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According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK's balance of trade is just as negative as where it was over a year ago - with the UK importing £2.5bn more than it exports overall.
Wasn't George's aim to get Britain exporting? (05 of10)
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The Tory party manifesto of 2010 stated that "a sustainable recovery must be driven by growth in exports." Meanwhile, George Osborne promised in June 2010 to "raise from the ruins of an economy built on debt a new, balanced economy where we save, invest and export." He went on to promise in 2012 to double British exports to £1 trillion by the end of the decade, a target that MPs recently warned he was going to miss.
The UK looks to be losing the global race(06 of10)
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Despite coalition rhetoric that the UK is in a "global race" against other countries, the OBR warned that they expect the UK's share of the export market to keep shrinking as it loses out to competitors over the next few years.
Will Osborne's export efforts mean much? (07 of10)
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The OBR also estimated that the amount exported by Britain will be so dwarfed by how much it imports that it will slightly drag down growth this year and then make "little" contribution to growth over the next few years.
The IMF says UK exports are too weak(08 of10)
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Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said last week that UK exports remain "subdued", adding: "The export cylinder is one that could fire a little more strongly."
We're having to rely more on foreign investment(09 of10)
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The UK’s current account, which summarises the transactions between Britain and the rest of the world, has been getting worse, leading the ONS to conclude that the country was "becoming increasingly dependent on inflows of foreign capital". (credit:ONS )
George knows he has his work cut out...(10 of10)
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"The job is never done," the Chancellor admitted in April as he unveiled his latest raft of reforms to get British business trading.
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