UK economy stagnated at the end of 2019, before virus lockdown

[LONDON] The UK economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, a rollercoaster period that began with turmoil over Brexit and ended with relief after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's landslide election win.

But hopes that the return of political stability might lay the foundations for a steady recovery have been blown away by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain is now facing its steepest slump for a century, with the economy on course to shrink by 10 per cent in the first half, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Office for National Statistics figures Tuesday show gross domestic product was unchanged from the third quarter, unrevised from a previous estimate. The annual growth rate was also unrevised at 1.1 per cent.

The current-account deficit, meanwhile, narrowed sharply to 5.6 billion pounds (S$9.99 billion) amid a surge in exports, though recent figures have been heavily distorted by flows of non-monetary gold. The gap was the equivalent of 1 per cent of GDP, the smallest since 2011.

BLOOMBERG

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