The UK economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, a roller-coaster period that began with turmoil over Brexit and ended with relief after prime minister Boris Johnson’s landslide election win. The UK’s Office for National Statistics figures on Tuesday show gross domestic product was unchanged from the third quarter, unrevised from a previous estimate. The current account deficit, meanwhile, narrowed sharply to £5.6 billion (€6.3 billion) amid a surge in exports, though recent figures have been heavily distorted by flows of non-monetary gold. The gap was the equivalent of 1 per cent of GDP, the smallest since 2011. – Bloomberg

Source: The Irish Times March 31, 2020 06:48 UTC