Britain’s recovery ‘disappointing’

BRITAIN’S recovery in the first quarter has been disappointing, Bank of England policymaker, Martin Weale, said yesterday, adding that the BoE’s forecasts in May could be crucial to his next vote on interest rates.

Mr Weale has voted for higher rates since January, and has been in a minority of three on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee.

His comments add to signs that the momentum for tightening interest rates at the bank has stalled after a very dovish set of minutes from April’s policy meeting on Wednesday.

“First quarter GDP is likely to be weaker than many people, including myself, would have assumed,” Mr Weale said.

He said he would not be surprised if first-quarter GDP data came in below 0.7%. A Reuters poll for quarterly GDP growth, due on April 27, shows a median forecast of 0.6%, down from the 0.7% predicted earlier this month.

Overall, the recovery looked more fragile than past rebounds, Mr Weale said. “It is likely to be a bumpy road.”

“On the basis of the numbers we have, it does look as though the recovery has probably been weaker than one may have hoped given the experience from previous recessions,” he said.