Our latest Economic Review covers:
- The Chancellor will now deliver a full Autumn Statement on 17 November. A fiscal statement had originally been planned for 31 October. The Autumn Statement will be accompanied by updated economic growth and borrowing forecasts produced by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
- Soaring food prices have pushed the UK #inflation rate back to a four-decade high, fuelling expectations of a sharp interest rate hike at the next Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (#MPC) on 3 November. Data released last month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the headline rate of inflation rose to 10.1% in September after dipping to 9.9% in August. This was slightly above analysts’ expectations and took consumer price inflation back to a 40-year high previously hit in July
- According to the latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures the UK economy shrank by 0.3% in August with output in both the production and services sectors falling back. August’s figure was significantly weaker than analysts’ expectations, with the consensus from a Reuters poll of economists pointing to zero growth. July’s GDP figure was also revised down to 0.1% from a previous estimate of 0.2%