020 7898 0500The UK’s growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was revised downwards yesterday. The first estimate suggested it had grown by 0.5%, but yesterday it was amended to 0.4%. The ONS said this was largely down to revising its estimated production industry output. It raises the question of whether the Bank of England should really be entertaining an interest rate rise in the near future.
In addition, Britain’s economy posted its weakest annual growth rate since 2012 as it was revised downwards from 1.8% to 1.7%. It confirms that the UK ranks last among the G7 countries for growth in 2017. Although this happened before in 2010, if we go back further it is evident that it is an extremely rare situation and helps highlight the impact that Brexit is having on the economy.
There are no releases of note today, although the Bank of England’s Dave Ramsden is due to give a speech. It will be interesting to see if he alludes to yesterday’s revised growth rate and what that could mean for future policy.
