The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) yesterday warned that domestic economic growth would nearly "grind to a halt" next year and revised its growth forecast sharply lower.

But Britian's most influential employers' organisation was at pains to state that the country was not staring down the barrel of a full-blown recession.

The CBI predicted in its quarterly economic forecast that growth would be just 1.2 per cent in 1999, down from an earlier forecast of 2.1 per cent growth next year.

The CBI's chief economic adviser, Kate Barker, said: "We have sharply downgraded our forecasts for the next 18 months since May. We now expect economic growth over the next three quarters will almost grind to a halt in the UK."