LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister George Osborne said Thursday's economic data, which showed the current account deficit ballooned to a record new high, demonstrated that now is not the time for Britain to leave the European Union.
While lauding the resilience of Britain's economy after its growth picked up slightly at the end of 2015, Osborne said a slowing global economy weighed on the outlook.
"Today's figures expose the real danger of economic uncertainty and shows that now is precisely not the time to put our economic security at risk by leaving the EU," Osborne said in a statement.
Britain holds a referendum of its EU membership on June 23. Data on Thursday showed the current account deficit hit a record 7 percent of GDP.