UK firms anticipate steady economic growth over next quarter, CBI says

Growth in Britain´s private sector eased back at the start of 2017 following a sharp pick-up in momentum heading into the tail-end of the previous year, the results of a widely-followed survey showed.

The Confederation of British Industry´s Growth Indicator fell from a reading of +17% for the three months to December to 10% in January, although that was still a stronger reading than the 9% seen in November and the 8% print for October.

Nevertheless, CBI´s chief economist, Rain Newton-Smith, warned of the impact which higher prices and uncertainty were expected to have on the economy.

“Resilience has been the hallmark of the UK economy since the EU Referendum.

“But higher inflation is on the way, which will erode consumer incomes, while the impact of uncertainty since the referendum may cause investment spending to slow this year.

“While businesses are committed to making a success of Brexit, making progress on improving the UK’s productivity remains the number one priority," Newton-Smith said.

The business lobby group described private sector growth as "mixed across sectors", with retailers seeing a "decent" expansion over the prior three months, while output among manufacturers was described as still "robust" and service sector volumes were unchanged.

Expectations for growth among the 753 survey participants was for growth to remain at a similar rate over the next three months (12%).

Growth was mixed across sectors, with retailers reporting decent growth over the previous three months, and output growth remaining robust among manufacturers, albeit at a slighter slower pace. Service sector volumes were unchanged.

Overall, expectations were for growth to continue at a similar pace over the next three months (+12%).