LONDON (MNI) – UK output rose by just 0.1% in the first quarter of
this year, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said
today.
This follows flat growth in the three months through February.
Official NS data show growth fell by 0.3% in Q4 2011.
NIESR said that this Q1 estimate would mean that the UK had avoided
a technical recession but that the UK’s negative output gap would
continue to widen. This period of growth weakness would be temporary,
however, with the recovery seen “taking hold” in 2013.
NIESR’s Q1 estimate is well below the Bank of England’s 0.5%
forecast for the quarter and, if confirmed by the ONS, would make the
Monetary Policy Committee’s May discussion on whether to extend asset
purchases a finely balanced one.
–London bureau: +442078627492; email: dthomas@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$BDS$,MT$$$$,M$$BE$,MFBBU$]
