UK Economy Continues to Defy ‘Brexit Uncertainty’

Figures are expected to show this week that Britain’s economy is growing at the second-fastest pace of all G7 countries, despite experts fears that ‘Brexit uncertainty’ would damage the economic forecast.

In a list that also includes France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada and the United States, the UK placed second with growth hitting 0.5% over the last three months. Of the entire G7 list, only the US recorded a quicker start to 2019, growing by 0.8%.

Due to record-high employment and strong consumer spending the UK jumped ahead of its European and Asian counterparts, demonstrating that Brexit forecasting may have been too negative.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: ‘Brexit uncertainty doesn’t seem to have held the economy back much at all.’

This comes a week after the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney admitted that the economy was doing better than any predictions made three months ago. However, Mr Carney warned that interest rates rises would follow faster growth in an effort to stabilise inflation.

With Brexit delayed, it’ll be interesting to see whether the UK will experience a ‘bounceback’, particularly within the London market. The amount of foreign investment is forecast to rise as offshore investors look at the UK market for ‘Brexit discounts’. Rightmove support this shift, predicting a ‘Brexit Relief Rally’ to occur over the summer. According to their research, with the delay of Brexit formalised, confidence is likely to return to the market with Rightmove anticipating a wave of relief.

For now, however, the first three months have shown positive growth despite the political uncertainty that clouds the economy and UK property investment.