LONDON: Britain’s economy put in a weak performance in June when declines in car manufacturing, construction and exports gave an uninspiring end to the weakest first half of any year since 2012. A year after Britain voted for Brexit, there is still little sign that exporters have gained much by way of competitiveness from the fall in the value of the pound after referendum. The Bank of England has said it is counting on a recovery in exports to help lift growth in the economy. “This is a disappointing set of data for a country that has recently seen an 18 percent fall in the currency,” said HSBC economist Elizabeth Martins.
Britain’s goods trade deficit jumped to a nine-month high of 12.7 billion pounds ($16.5 billion) in June from 11.3 billion pounds in May, exceeding all forecasts in a Reuters poll, and the figures also showed the growing importance of exports to the European Union just as Britain is preparing to leave the bloc. The Office for National Statistics said nothing in Thursday’s data pointed to a material change in its earlier estimate that the economy grew 0.3 percent in the three months to June after expanding just 0.2 percent in the first quarter. Car production recorded its biggest quarterly fall since 2011 and construction declined by the most since 2012. Rising inflation has weighed on consumer demand since the start of the year, and a separate survey on Thursday showed property valuers reported the weakest growth in house prices in over four years.
