Britain more than doubled its economic growth forecasts on Thursday as the recovery gathers pace, finance minister George Osborne said in a key budget update. Gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow by 1.4 percent in 2013 and by 2.4 percent in 2014, Osborne revealed in his autumn statement. That compared with prior forecasts for expansion of 0.6 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.