British trade deficit widens in November

January 11, 2012 | Business | Written by

London, Jan 12: Britain’s trade deficit in goods widened by 0.8 billion pounds to 8.6 billion pounds ($12.9 billion) in November 2011, the government said Wednesday.

The widening gap came mostly from a drop in the value of exports of goods, the British Office of National Statistics (ONS) said in a report.

ONS said exports fell by 0.4 billion pounds or 1.5 percent to 25.7 billion pounds, but imports rose by 0.4 billion pounds to 34.4 billion pounds, up by 1.1 percent.

‘Trade is unlikely to contribute strongly to British economic growth in 2012, which looks set to be a challenging year,’ said Chris Williamson, chief economist at the financial information services firm Markit.

‘Signs of improved demand from countries such as the US and China are likely to be countered by weak demand in the eurozone,’ Xinhua quoted Williamson as saying.

The surplus on seasonally adjusted trade in services was estimated at 6.1 billion pounds in November, compared with the surplus of 6.0 billion pounds in October.

IANS