UK economy in 'a lot better shape' than bleak figures suggest, fund manager says
Publishing timestamp: 2023-02-23 01:30:58
Summary
U.K. has avoided a widely anticipated recession, and signs from the business world suggest that the economy may be holding up better than feared. Business investment in the fourth quarter of 2022 was only fractionally higher than before the Brexit vote, but recent trends look more hopeful. Banks have increased their loan loss provisions, but this should not be read as a sign that default risks are increasing. U.K. businesses are sitting on deposits equivalent to 23% of annual GDP, and debt is at late-1990s levels. With diminishing risk of retaliatory trade confrontation with the EU, better times may be ahead, and a recovery in business investment could add 5-6 percentage points to annual GDP growth.
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Keywords: lloyds banking group plc, business news, investment strategy, economy, politics, markets,