On Thursday, official figures were released confirming that Britain’s economy had fallen into a recession in the latter half of 2023. The Office for National Statistics reported that gross domestic product declined by 0.1% in the third quarter and by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, matching the preliminary estimates previously reported.
Although the economy showed some improvement at the beginning of 2024, with GDP growing by 0.2% in January and continued growth reported in February and March according to unofficial surveys, the recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been slow. Currently, Britain’s economy is only 1% larger than it was in late 2019, making it the only G7 nation with a worse performance.
The Bank of England has indicated that British inflation is nearing a level where they can begin reducing interest rates. The Bank expects the economy to grow by just 0.25% this year, while official budget forecasters are more optimistic, expecting a 0.8% expansion in the economy.
Following the release of this data, the value of sterling against both U.S. dollar and euro remained relatively stable due to uncertainty about Brexit negotiations and potential trade deals between UK and other countries