Sharjah24 - Reuters: Britain's economy unexpectedly shrank 0.1% in March after a slump in car sales due to supply-chain problems, marking a weak end to the first quarter of a year when the risk of recession is looming.
Gross domestic product grew by 0.8% in the first three months of 2022, the Office for National Statistic said - below the 0.9% forecast by the Bank of England and the 1.0% expected on average by economists polled by Reuters.
Despite falling short of expectations, the growth between January and March is likely to mark a high point for the year, with consumer spending facing its biggest squeeze in decades.
Last week, the BoE forecast inflation will go above 10% in the final quarter of the year, up from 7% in March, which was already more than three times its 2% target.
"The economy had less momentum than we thought even before the full hit from the cost of living crisis has been felt. The risk of recession has just risen," Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said.
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