UK economic outlook ‘exceptionally strong’, says CBI

The CBI has announced that the economic outlook for the next three months is “exceptionally strong and broad-based”, and growth expectations are the strongest they have been since the body began recording data in 2003.

Pointing specifically to the retail and service sectors, the CBI’s Growth Indicator, published today, said economic growth continued to gather pace in April, and predicted even stronger growth in the next quarter.

Output rose from the eight-month low recorded in the previous month, and remains well above average, indicating that the UK’s economic recovery is steadily advancing.Growth strengthened across the retail and service sectors, while manufacturing output growth remained solid.

The report, which surveys 675 respondents across manufacturing, retail and services, recorded “solid growth in activity”, with a balance of +25%, up from +19% in March. It said: “Firms are optimistic that growth will pick up again over the next quarter”, with the expectations balance at a record +42%.

Katja Hall, CBI chief policy director, said: “These latest growth figures, and the strong expectations for the next quarter, provide further encouraging signs of increasing vigour and confidence across the UK economy.

“While consumer spending accounted for the lion’s share of GDP growth last year, there are firm indications of growth becoming more broad-based. It’s good to see that business investment has consistently contributed to quarterly growth since 2013.

“We expect growth to strengthen in 2014, underpinned partly by rising business and consumer confidence and supportive monetary conditions. Productivity and earnings are also expected to start recovering this year.”