Britain's trade deficit narrowed sharply in July as the recovering global economy boosted external demand for UK goods, economists said yesterday.
With the US economy apparently starting to rebound and the eurozone also expected to perk up, a stronger performance in the UK's exporting sectors further diminished the chances of any more interest rate cuts, they said.
Data from the Office for National Statistics on 9 September showed that the UK's goods trade deficit improved from Ј4.5bn in June to Ј3.3bn, much better than analysts' expectations of a Ј4.1bn shortfall and the narrowest gap since March.
This was further evidence that the third quarter would be "a bumper quarter for overall growth", said Paul Dales of Capital Economics. He forecast a 0.7 per cent expansion, from 0.3 per cent in the second quarter.
