Britain's exit (Brexit) from the European Union will be a "catastrophe" for the country as also a "big loss" for Europe having "very serious consequences", former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday.

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"In my personal opinion, Brexit will be a very bad thing for Europe because of the simple reason that Great Britain at the moment is the second biggest economy of Europe. To lose the second biggest economy of Europe will be a big loss," Sarkozy said at an industry conference here.

Referring to the June 23 referendum on membership, he said that in case the move happens it will be a "catastrophe for Great Britain".

"If Great Britain exits from Europe, American companies will arrive due to the close relationship between the two nations," said Sarkozy, who is visiting India. 

"So, there will be a very serious consequences," he said, emphasising that EU needs to be redefined in terms of its institutions, treaties, skills as these were initially calculated for 6 countries but today it is a 28 nation grouping. He said that there is a need to have a relook at the functions of EU and its competence, highlighting that "Europe will not die but must reform itself".

Britain's possible exit from the EU "could do severe regional and global damage" by disrupting international trade relations and poses the biggest risk to the global recovery, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

Slashing the global growth forecasts and for the UK as well as other advanced economies, the Washington-based financial institution said Britain voting to leave the EU posed one of the biggest risks to the global recovery.

The UK economy is now expected to grow by 1.9% this year, according to the IMF. This represents the weakest annual growth since 2012 and is down from a forecast of 2.2% just three months ago. The IMF's position on Brexit is also in sync with the official position of the British government which has advocated remaining within the 28-member block.