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Mourning wreaths for Queen Elizabeth II near Buckingham Palace
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The British economy grew slightly again in July.
But even that is not entirely positive news.
However, Yael Selfin, an economist at consultancy KPMG, warned: "The slight increase in July is due to the weakness in GDP in June."
Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.6 percent in June and grew 0.2 percent the following month, not even reversing previous losses.
The National Statistics Office (ONS) announced the current values on Monday.
The future outlook is not too rosy either.
Finally, June's sharp drop was attributed in part to the impact of the late Queen Elizabeth's Crown Jubilee ceremony.
As a result, there was exceptionally an additional public holiday in Great Britain on which no work was done.
Because of the death of the head of state, another national holiday is now scheduled for next Monday, which could have a similar effect.
While most Brits who are currently commemorating the late Queen in reverence are likely to be willing to pay the price, there are deeper problems in the UK economy.
They ensure a negative trend beyond short-term and limited holiday effects.
Recession may already be underway
"Troublingly, July GDP remains below the level observed in May, indicating an overall contraction in the first two months of summer," says KPMG expert Selfin.
The Bank of England expects a recession to begin.
At the beginning of August, she forecast a decline in economic output in each quarter from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023. Growth thereafter will be “very weak”.
In order to support the economy and protect citizens from poverty, the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced last week that she intends to freeze heating and electricity costs for private households for two years.
The two items should therefore be fixed at a total of 2,500 pounds per year (equivalent to 2,800 euros) for an average household.
mamk/AFP