Think tank forecasts British economy to grow 0.6 pct in Q1

Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, said a British economic think-tank on Friday.

British economy has continued to expand at a "reasonable pace", consistent with the average pace of growth since the start of 2013, said the London-based National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

However, NIESR's calculations suggest that "the recent weak performance in the production and construction sectors have weighed down on economic growth in the first quarter by approximately 0.15 percentage point," it said in a report.

On the same day, data from the Office for National Statistics showed that British industrial output edged up merely by 0.1 percent on the month-on-month basis, while output of construction industry was estimated to have decreased by 0.9 percent over the same period.

In its previous report, NIESR projected that British GDP would see a 2.9 percent annual growth in 2015 and 2.3 percent in 2016. Endit