U.K. reports smaller-than-forecast budget deficit in . . . . . . U.K. posted a smaller than forecast budget deficit in August, buoyed by the lower spending by government departments. The deficit in net borrowing excluding support for banks rose to 13.2 billion pounds from 14.4 billion pounds deficit a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. The deficit including government support for banks came in at 11.5 billion pounds from the revised surplus of 1.1 billion pounds. The public sector net cash requirement reached 3.0 billion pounds surplus from a revised surplus of 21.1 billion pounds. Revenue soared 2.8% on recovery signs from the economy, with tax receipts surging 1.4 percent, while spending fell 2.2%, helped by the fall in departmental spending. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has defended in more than occasion the austerity measures adopted by the government, but the recent progress in the economy may help him to meet his fiscal targets this year. Osborne has said that economic growth is gaining traction by warned “it would be a mistake to think we can ease up in repainting our economy and fixing what went wrong.” Gross domestic product figures showed that Britain grew 0.7% in the quarter through June, following a rise of 0.3% in the first quarter. This week, the BOE revised up its growth forecast for the third quarter to 0.7 percent from 0.5 percent, estimated in August’s inflation report. The progress in second-quarter figures suggest that consumer spending is strengthening while recent economic reports “tentatively suggested” growth would remain robust in the final quarter of this year, the BOE added. As of 08:55 GMT, the pound traded slightly higher versus the U.S. dollar around 1.6042 after touching a high of 1.6065. #egyptyard
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:50:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015