E - PAPER
CURRENT MONTH
LAST MONTH
Lockdown Hits UK GDP Less Than Feared
Britain's economy shrank by less than feared in January when the country went back into a coronavirus lockdown, but trade with the European Union was hammered as new post-Brexit rules kicked in. Gross domestic product was 2.9% lower than in December, the Office for N
BY
Realty Plus
Published - Saturday, 13 Mar, 2021
Britain's economy shrank by less than feared in January when the country went back into a coronavirus lockdown, but trade with the European Union was hammered as new post-Brexit rules kicked in. Gross domestic product was 2.9% lower than in December, the Office for National Statistics said.
Economists had expected a contraction of 4.9% and government bond prices fell as investors took the data as a sign that the Bank of England was less likely to pump more stimulus into the economy. Britain suffered its worst economic slump in three centuries last year when it shrank by 10%. It has also been hit with Europe's biggest COVID-19 death toll of over 125,000 people.
But the country is racing ahead with vaccinations and, after figures, economists said they expected the economy would shrink by 2% in the first quarter of 2021, half the hit forecast by the BoE only last month.
Many businesses are learning to cope with lockdowns, including retailers who have ramped up their online shopping operations and services firms that have tried to help workers to do their jobs from home. Samuel Tombs, with Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted a 5% second-quarter growth rebound "which would kibosh the chances of the Monetary Policy Committee reducing Bank Rate this year."
The ONS figures also showed exports and imports from Britain to the EU plunged by the most on record, although there was a delay in gathering some of the data and there were signs of a pick-up towards the end of January.
RELATED STORY VIEW MORE
Nigeria Shows Widening Transparency Gap in Real Estate
Singapore Private Home Rents Set To Climb By 10-15%
Saudi Arabia’s Ambitious Projects from World’s Largest Airport to Skyscraper
NEWS LETTER
Subscribe for our news letter
E - PAPER
-
CURRENT MONTH
LAST MONTH
REALTY+ SPECIAL ISSUES
Test Magazine
THE TECH TITANS 2022
COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022
Anniversary Issue 2022
Anniversary Issue 2020
VIDEO GALLERY VIEW MORE
