CBI: Economy worse than first thought

Director general at the CBI Richard Lambert admitted that the mood has "darkened" in the past couple of months and that the chances of growth in the next couple of years are slight.

Lambert stated that the organisation has been "over-optimistic" in recent times and that the credit crunch is larger than it was first thought.

"A year ago, it seemed reasonable to hope that the worst would by over by now. That has not turned out to be the case," he commented.

But he suggested that it is not all doom and gloom and that business conditions in some cases are better than reported in national newspapers.

The CBI had previously altered its predictions for growth in 2009 from 1% to 0.4%.