Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, financial markets, the eurozone and trade.
The UK economy has returned to growth as the economic damage caused by the Omicron version has faded.
UK GDP up 0.8% in January, faster than economists expected after contracting 0.2% in December When ‘Plan B’ restrictions were put in place after the rapidly spreading Covid-19 variant surfaced,
New figures from the Office for National Statistics show every sector increased in January Services up 0.8%, Production 0.7% and Construction up 1.1%.
Customer-facing service companies saw a strong pick-up. The food and beverage sector grew 6.8% in January, after the festive season was badly disrupted as parties were canceled and more people worked from home in December.
National Statistics Office (ONS)
(@we)GDP grew by 0.8 per cent in January and is now up 0.8 per cent from its pre-pandemic peak.
Services grew by 0.8% (1.3%), manufacturing grew by 0.8% (1.6%) and manufacturing grew by 1.1% (1.4%). https://t.co/ldkxuCew1o pic.twitter.com/alaO7y8lEn
January’s rebound means the UK economy was up 0.8% from its pre-pandemic levels:
However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now threatening to recover, International Monetary Fund Global growth projections are likely to be cut.
Managing director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters last night that the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia were pushing the Russian economy into a deep recession.
The crisis is spreading globally as well: commodity prices rise, leading to high inflation that affects real income, and damages financial conditions and business confidence.
Georgieva said:
So in short, the tragic impact of the war on Ukraine has come before us. In Russia we have contraction on a significant basis. And we see the potential impact on our world economic outlook. We will reduce our growth projections next month.
So we went through a crisis like no other with a pandemic. And now we are in even more shocking territory. The unthinkable happened – we have a war in Europe.
In January, the IMF projected that the world economy would grow by 4.4% this year, up from 5.9% in 2021.
US President Joe Biden expected to increase economic pressure on Vladimir Putin Calling later today to terminate normal trade relations with RussiaAccording to reports.
The move would clear the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports and would come on top of wider sanctions and a decision to ban oil imports from this week, Reuters and Bloomberg quoted anonymous Biden administration sources as saying. Russia by US and UK.
work schedule
- 7am GMT: UK GDP and trade report for January
- Afternoon GMT: Brazil’s inflation rate for February
- 3 p.m. GMT: University of Michigan survey of US consumer sentiment for March