Off the wire
• Latvian health minister complains defamation after reported skipping line  • EP backs WTO agreement to end customs duties on high tech devices  • Namibian police place week-long ban on public gatherings  • SCO defense ministers' conference held in Kazakhstan  • Chicago agricultural commodities settle higher amid weather concerns  • European Parliament calls on Japan to end whale hunting  • Denis O'Donovan elected chairperson of Irish Senate  • Ukraine to ease visa access for Chinese businessmen, tourists  • Half of Brazilians in favor of early presidential elections: poll  • Kuczynski enjoys razor-thin lead in Peru's presidential race, poised to win  
You are here: 　 Home

UK three-monthy rate of growth "subdued but reasonable": NIESR

Xinhua, June 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UK economy grew by 0.5 percent in the three months up to the end of May, an improvement of one percentage point on the three months up to the end of April, an economic think-tank said on Wednesday.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that growth in the production sector was part of the reason for the uptick in growth.

Simon Kirby, senior research fellow at the NIESR, told Xinhua: "There is a noticeable pick-up in production which we also saw in the April figures.

"The major part of the economy, the service sector, is ticking over at a pretty stable pace, so what you have got is one of the major drags on the economy flipping over to the other side."

The production sector has been a drag on growth since the start of the financial crisis in 2008-2009, and still remains 9.2 percent below its pre-crisis peak it reached at the beginning of 2008.

Kirby said that UK GDP growth perhaps not as bad as some commentators were making out, given the uncertainty caused by the UK's referendum on European Union membership on June 23.

"It is subdued but reasonable rates of growth, pretty good given that uncertainty is weighing on decisions to invest," said Kirby. Endit