Official figures this week are expected to provide fresh evidence
that the UK economy remained resilient in the face of Brexit uncertainty
at the close of 2016 but economists warn Britain is headed for a sharp
slowdown this year.
After confounding most economic forecasters with solid GDP growth of 0.6% in the three months following June’s referendum, the economy is expected to have grown 0.5% in the final quarter of last year, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Chris Hare, economist at the bank Investec was among those predicting
the GDP figures on Thursday would show a strong finish to the year.
“The UK economy has held up remarkably well after last June’s vote to
leave the EU. Businesses and households have largely shrugged off the
political and economic uncertainties relating to Brexit, keeping the
economy running at a decent pace,” he said.
Hopes of solid growth have been buoyed by largely upbeat surveys of
businesses and consumers. In particular, the Markit/CIPS purchasing
managers’ indices (PMIs) showed the construction, manufacturing and services sectors all grew at the end of 2016 and pointed to 0.5% GDP growth in the final quarter.
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