German business chief claims Brexit will boost economy

Mathias Dopfner, chief executive of German publishing house Axel Springer, has said that Britain's vote to leave the European Union could provide a major boost to the economy within the next five years.

The businessman has asserted that the region will be more attractive to investors as a result of the departure, at odds with the assertions of many economists who have spoken on the matter.

He also suggested that European countries may be the ones who lose out after the historic referendum vote.

"You basically integrate and invite the people that you benefit from and not people who only benefit from your social welfare system," Dopfner told the Financial Times.

"I very simply think that in the long run continental Europe may suffer more from Brexit than England itself," he said. "We should not take this whole Brexit decision as a way to blame the Brits. We should take it like a wake-up call for Europe to refresh its political approach."

Axel Springer owns German newspapers Bild and Die Welt, and Dopfner is the latest commentator to throw weight behind the argument that Brexit will not be as bad for the British economy as first expected.