A day after the Bank of England's governor warned about the damaging consequences of a "disorderly" Brexit, official figures Friday confirmed that the British economy barely grew in the first three months of the year. The Office for National Statistics said the economy expanded by a quarterly rate of just 0.1 percent amid weak household spending and business investment. Meanwhile, business investment fell by 0.2 percent, with executives seemingly cautious amid uncertainty over Britain's future relationship with the EU, its biggest trading partner. Then, the bank's Monetary Policy Committee cut its main rate to a record low of 0.25 percent and enacted some further stimulus measures to shore up confidence. That gave it room to raise its main rate in November to 0.5 percent, its first hike in a decade, even though economic growth has slowed noticeably.

Source: ABC News May 25, 2018 08:51 UTC