Sharjah24 - Reuters: Britain's economy barely grew in July, as the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 took hold following the easing of lockdown restrictions, official data showed on Friday.
Economic output rose just 0.1% in July, the Office for National Statistics said, the smallest monthly increase since January when Britain went into a new national lockdown
Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected month-on-month growth of 0.6% in gross domestic product. Only two of the 26 analysts had expected such a weak reading.
Finance minister Rishi Sunak said the recovery was well underway but the weak growth is likely bolster the case of Bank of England policymakers who think it is premature to start talking about raising interest rates - despite signs that inflation is set to rise sharply.
"Stalling GDP and rising inflation will leave a whiff of stagflation in the air," said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at the Capital Economics consultancy.
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