UK economy to shrink without Brexit deal, says Lagarde

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters): International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Britain's economy would contract if London and Brussels fail to strike a Brexit deal.

"A more disruptive departure will have a much worse outcome," she said as the IMF presented a report on Britain's economy, adding the economy would shrink in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

"Let me be clear, compared with today's smooth single market, all the likely Brexit scenarios will have costs for the economy and to a lesser extent as well for the EU," she said.

"The larger the impediments to trade in the new relationship, the costlier it will be," she said.

"This should be fairly obvious, but it seems that sometimes it is not," she added.