Brexit
BREXIT – Abbreviation of “British Exit” refers to the
possibility of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union
People of Britain in a historic
referendum voted in favour of leaving European Union (EU). The referendum ‘to
leave’ or ‘to be a member’ of EU saw 51.9% votes in favour compared to 48.1% in
against. Referendum turnout was higher
than at 2015 general election. Northern Ireland, London and Scotland voted
strongly to stay back with the EU while the Wales and the English shires backed
Britain exit (Brexit) from the EU.
Why the people voted for Brexit?
According to Brexit campaigners, concerns about the costs
of continued EU membership far outweigh any worries about leaving.
Impact of Brexit
·
Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation
from his position. (He stated that new Prime Minister to carry out discussions
with the EU and invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Party)
·
The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar
since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results. It fell by 3% within moments
of the first result showing a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and fell as
much as 6.5% against the euro.
·
The departure of the bloc's second biggest economy
would weaken Europe's unity and stability which is already grappling with the
Greek financial crisis and a massive influx of refugees.
·
It triggered fall in major markets like Japan’s Nikkei
fell by 7.5% whereas Singapore’s Strait Times fell by 2.5%. Even the stock
markets of China, Taiwan and South Korea registered a fall between 2-4%.
·
Internationally, prices of oil tumbled but the prices
of gold rose sharply.
·
According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, Global markets
lost $2.08 trillion
·
President Obama sought to encourage British citizens
that the U.S. would not abandon the nations’ strong and historic partnership
·
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the U.K.’s
sovereign debt rating from stable to negative.
·
More than 400,000 Britain people have signed a
petition to exit from the EU
Impact on India
·
The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex index fell as much
as 4.04 percent or 1090.9 points in early trade to a day’s low of 25,911.33
points.
·
The Indian rupee fell to 68.14 against the dollar, its
lowest level since February 2016, later it crawled to 67.79.
Would be Impacts include
·
Productivity and GDP per person of the UK would be
lower as the costs would substantially outweigh any potential benefit of
leaving the EU.
·
It may lead to disintegration of United Kingdom as an
entity because Scotland may again ask for a referendum to be a part of EU as it
had a referendum on 19 September 2014.
·
Other nations of the 28 nation bloc, now 27 with exit
of Britain, may call for a referendum giving rise to protectionism and
ultra-nationalism which is getting hardened across the world.
·
IMF said in an April report that "a U.K. exit
from Europe's single market would also likely disrupt and reduce mutual trade
and financial flows, curtailing key benefits from economic cooperation and
integration, such as those resulting from economies of scale and efficient
specialization.
It
would likely result in a massive rebalancing of currencies. Investors would
likely dive out of the British pound and into cash that's perceived as safe —
the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen, the U.S. dollar. The euro could also see
some weakening if investors are worried about the fate of the EU.
