GETTY Euro peril: IMF managing director Christine Lagarde warned of the dangers of Brexit

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IMF chiefs warned the UK’s decision to leave the EU would seriously hamper growth prospects in the region. Before the Brexit vote, the IMF forecast a 1.7 per cent expansion for the eurozone. However, post Brexit the organisation revised that down to 1.6 per cent this year and 1.4 per cent next year.

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GETTY A top economist has said that Europe may have to abandon the euro

The euro area is at a critical juncture. Muddling through is increasingly untenable IMF

The IMF warned of economic chaos in the event of a Leave victory and has urged a “smooth transition” for post-EU Britain. The international organisation said: “The euro area is at a critical juncture. Muddling through is increasingly untenable. “Unless collective problems are solved, the euro area is likely to suffer repeated bouts of economic and political instability leading to crises of confidence and economic setbacks.”

GETTY The IMF has urged for a smooth transition post-Brexit

In the damning statement, it said the migrant crisis could even spell the end of free movement and warned that other countries in the bloc could want their own referendums following the Brexit vote. A Nobel Prize winning economist even said that Europe may have to “abandon the euro”. The economist, Professor Christopher Pissarides, has said that the uncertainty would reduce investment and hit job creation.

GETTY Without major change, the report states that the EU is unsustainable