NIESR expects UK economic growth to be “largely flat” in April, and “close to flatlining” in Q2 overall. it
Rory Macqueen Principal Economist, NIESR, said:
“March’s deterioration in consumer confidence translated into a sharp fall in retail and wholesale, which was exacerbated by continuing supply-chain problems in the motor industry. Offsetting this, the continuing normalisation of GP and hospital activities cancelled out falling Covid-related activity to mean that the health sector returned to month-on-month growth. Falling business investment in the first estimate for the first quarter is a concern: with the government’s tax ‘super-deduction’ expiring in under a year we still see little sign of a recovery from the Covid shock.”
