THE British Chancellor, Mr Kenneth Clarke's prediction of a pick up in economic growth won influential backing yesterday from the International Monetary Fund despite figures showing the pace of expansion remained sluggish in the second quarter of this year, partly due to the beef crisis. Gross domestic product grew by 0.4 per cent in the three months to June for the third successive quarter, taking the annual rate of expansion down to 1.8 per cent from 1.9 per cent in the first quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics. This compared with City forecasts of quarterly growth of 0.6 per cent and a year on year increase of 2 per cent.