Britain’s treasury chief George Osborne says leaving the European Union would be “an extraordinary self-inflicted wound” that could cost each household the equivalent of $6,100 a year by 2030.
Osborne released a 200-page document Monday about the long-term costs and benefits of EU membership.
He told the BBC Britain would be permanently poorer if it left the European Union, and he believes the country is stronger, safer and better off in the bloc.
British voters will decide in a June 23 referendum whether their country should stay in the 28-member European Union.
Rival campaigns for the referendum officially kicked off last week.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who favors leaving the group, said Britain can work a deal with the European Union that would end the country’s contribution to the EU budget and open its border to workers from the bloc.
Osborne said that type of an agreement would not work since it would not cover Britain’s powerful services industry and would leave the economy six percent smaller by 2030.
Pollster YouGov reported 45 percent of responders are in favor of continued EU membership, while 36 percent agreed with the exit if the cost for them was $142 a year.
