Press Room.
Grant Thornton's chief economist assesses implications of the
uk coming out of a recession
If you are writing about the effect of the ONS
statistical release that Gross Domestic Product increased by 0.1%
and the UK is officially out of a recession, please consider the
comments below from
Stephen Gifford, Chief Economist at Grant
Thornton.
"Today's announcement that the UK is
officially out of a recession has been a long time coming
considering the rest of Europe and the US returned to growth some
six months ago. Whilst everyone will be breathing a collective sigh
of relief across the country, economic growth of 0.1% is lower than
expected and hardly a resounding vote of confidence."
"The last six quarters of economic contraction
has left an economic scar on the UK and the journey to trend growth
will be slow and patchy. But there are some reasons to be
optimistic, with unemployment beginning to decline, consumer
confidence rising and markedly lower reports of home
repossessions."
"People are now much more optimistic about the
future path of the UK economy, but we should still be cautious and
expect a lot of unpredictable activity along the way before any
sense of stability returns."
"The real worry will be the impact on
confidence from the pending tax increases and spending cuts. It is
certain that unprecedented cuts and rises will be needed if the
record deficit is to be reduced. But this future burden will hit
all households and businesses hard."
ENDS
For further information, please
contact:
Suvra Datta, Grant Thornton press office, 020
7728 2375 or via email on suvra.datta@gtuk.com