11 February 2022
If you are covering the latest UK GDP figures, please find below a comment from Paul Craig, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors:
“The U.K. has enjoyed a strong bounce back in GDP in 2021, but growth has tempered in Q4 with a small decline in December, not helped by the impact of Omicron on the service sector. However, the past is exactly that, and it will be imperative to watch inflation and monetary policy to gauge the likely impact on future growth. Inflation has taken root and although it might not be long lasting at its current elevated levels, we do expect it to be a feature over the coming 12 months. This ultimately threatens the economic recovery and the UK’s ability to grow at a sustained rate.
“Also, we must not forget that other risks remain present. While Boris Johnson has called time on Covid, only time will tell if Covid is listening, and we have seen the impact this can have on the U.K. large service sector.”
