The UK has defied fears of a slump in the wake of the Brexit vote, forcing the International Monetary Fund to tear up its original gloomy forecast for Britain’s economy.

The Fund had predicted that the UK economy would grow by 1.1pc in 2017. However, on Monday the international body’s economists revised upwards their downbeat assessment, instead predicting Britain would grow by 1.5pc this year.

The 0.4 percentage point upgrade is the largest upward revision the Fund has made to any of the nations or regions it covers in its latest update.