UK Jan trade position deteriorates as non-EU shortfall worsens UPDATE
Wednesday, March 9, 2005 10:19:38 AM
forexstreet.com
(Updating with analyst comment)
LONDON (AFX ) - The UK trade position worsened in January as the deficit with non-EU countries increased quite substantially from the previous month, official figures showed
The office of National Statistics said the country's global trade deficit in January rose to 5.2 bln stg against expectations of a 4.6 bln shortfall. The deficit was last wider in October
December's deficit was revised up to 4.9 bln stg from 4.4 bln given a change in the seasonal adjustment, a spokeswoman for the statistics office said
A more detailed look at the data shows that the UK's deficit with EU countries in January decreased to 2.2 bln stg from 2.4 bln the previous month. The narrower deficit was a result of higher exports of oil, chemicals and cars and lower imports of chemicals and intermediate goods
However, the non-EU deficit rose to 3.0 bln stg from 2.5 bln, and against expectations of a 2.4 bln shortfall. Exports to non-EU countries fell across a wide range of manufactured goods, but particularly for ships and aircraft. In contrast imports from non-EU countries rose, with increases in imports of fuels other than oil, intermediate goods, ships and aircraft
The surplus in trade in oil remained virtually unchanged in January from the previous month The overall balance, which also includes services, rose slightly to 3.7 bln stg from 3.5 bln
The statistics office said the latest estimate of the trend suggests that the UK trade deficit is worsening
RBoS economist, Ross Walker said that the change on the month in the headline figure is not large - with the deficit widening by 0.2 bln stg -- but that the large revision to December's data is worrying
"The big question is whether the improvement seen over previous months have disappeared," he added
The slump in exports to non-EU countries paints a "very erratic" picture. Non-EU imports were also down, perhaps suggesting some weakness in domestic consumer demand, he added |
