Britain's recovery overtaking rivals: Experts double growth predictions for this year By Hugo Duncan Britain will have the best-performing major economy in the developed world for the rest of the year, an international watchdog said yesterday. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said it expects growth of more than 0.9 per cent in the UK between July and September and around 0.8 per cent in the final quarter of the year, as the recovery gathers pace. The projections are stronger than anything seen in Britain since early 2010 and better than the growth rates expected in the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy. The Paris-based think-tank pencilled in growth of 1.5 per cent for Britain in 2013 - nearly double the 0.8 per cent previously expected. Downing Street said it was "one of a number of indicators that point in a favourable direction." It came as the boss of Lloyds Banking Group said Government action to boost mortgage lending is already proving a "game-changer for the economy." George Osborne's Help to Buy scheme has been heavily criticised amid fears it will push up prices rather than boost housebuilding. But Antonio Horta-Osorio played down talk of a new housing bubble. This is a temporary scheme to correct a market anomaly," he said. And figures published yesterday showed the construction industry grew at its fastest pace for six years last month. The flurry of positive news has fuelled hopes that Britain is finally on the road to recovery, five long years after the financial crisis struck. David Cameron's official spokesman said: "We would continue to say that the Government's priority is to secure the recovery and keep going with the measures we are taking to deal with the deficit and implement economic reforms." The British economy grew by 0.7 per cent between April and June - more than double the 0.3 per cent expansion seen in the first three months of the year. In its Interim Economic Assessment published yesterday, the OECD said: "The pace of recovery in the major advanced economies improved in the second quarter and growth is expected to be maintained at a similar rate in the second half of the year. Activity is expanding at encouraging rates in North America, Japan and the UK, while the euro area as a whole is no longer in recession. But it warned that growth has slowed in several major emerging economies such as China and India, adding: "A sustainable recovery is not yet firmly established and important risks remain." The latest construction figures in the UK, however, suggest that the outlook in Britain is still improving. An index of activity in the construction sector, where scores above 50 represent growth, jumped from 57 in July to a six-year high of 59.1 in August. But Rachel Reeves, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, will today claim "things are getting harder not easier" for millions of families as the cost of living rises. The cost of shopping on the High Street has fallen for the fourth month in a row on the back of long-running summer sales, according to retailers. The British Retail Consortium said shop prices across all goods were down by 0.5 per cent in August compared with the same month last year. But the cost of putting food on the table continues to rise, with the annual rate of increase up from 2.3 per cent in July to 2.5 per cent in August.