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10/29/14

Quitting European Union Will Be Damaging For British Exports - by Kalyan Kumar

The rising clamour in Britain to quit the European Union will ultimately backfire the British exports. This warning has been sounded out by David Godfrey, CEO, UK Export Finance. 

Godfrey is the head of the UK's export credit agency and he has fact to argue that sustained association with the European Union is "critical" for British exporters to avoid the risk of being frozen out of the biggest overseas markets. Godfrey, in an interview with The Telegraph, said: "I personally think most business leaders gain an awful lot from being part of the EU. It is critical and important for us to continue there."
 
The export credit guarantee agency was set up in 1919 to support British foreign trade soon after the First World War. Funded by the Treasury, the agency has more than £20 billion exposure on its balance sheet and helps British companies to stimulate exports by way of letters of credit, payment guarantees and direct loans.

The remarks by Godfrey have come in the backdrop of Prime Minister David Cameron's statements and the soaring popularity of the Euro-sceptic UK Independence Party asking to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU. The prime minister even wants tightening of the UK's borders to clamp down on migrant workers from other EU states.

In a recent reaction, Jose Manuel Barroso, the outgoing president of the European Commission, also cautioned Britain against quitting EU and end up losing its global influence. The quitting process, referred  as "Brexit," will land the U.K. in distress and would find it hard to negotiate with major trading partners such as China and the US on its own account, Boroso said. 

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