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James Durie on Latest GDP Figures
Commenting on the latest GDP figures, James Durie, chief executive – Bristol Chamber of Commerce & Initiative at Business West, said:
“The latest GDP figures for the UK economy show that growth in the first quarter was 0.3%-down from 0.7% in the previous quarter. This is not a disaster, of course, but the unanswered question to this announcement will be: might this be the first sign of a post Brexit slowdown?
“The reality is there isn’t sufficient evidence yet to show this to be the case and its certainly too early to tell.
“The main reason for the current slowdown centres on declines in consumer focused industries such as retail shops and hotels where rising inflation is undoubtedly having a detrimental effect. Recent growth in the economy has been driven by shoppers particularly and more spending on credit, which of course, took in the Christmas and New Year period. That consumer spending and buying on credit cards is slowing as inflation starts to have an impact with prices rising ahead of wage levels - much of that is being put at the door of Brexit.
“After a year of surprises and a lot of continuing uncertainty we certainly need to wait to see the figures from a few more quarters to understand if there is any trend emerging. In the meantime business will want to see the next Chancellor set out ambitious growth plans matched by long terms investment into the UK economy.”
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