UK trade gap narrows in February
Finally it seems as though the weak UK currency is starting to impact on exports with news that the trade gap fell from £8.1 billion in January to £6.2 billion in February. This is a very important statistic showing that the UK is now exporting more goods than for some time and the trade gap is now at its lowest level for three years. While there is obviously also a negative impact from the lower currency exchange rate, in that imports are more expensive, there seems to be more need for an increase in actual manufacturing levels for export at this moment in time.
The specific figures for European and non-European export trade are also encouraging with the deficit falling from £3.4 billion to £2.8 billion between EU members and from £4.7 billion to £3.3 billion for the rest of the world. There have been concerns that economic difficulties within Europe would impact upon UK exports although at this point in time there is little evidence this is happening. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues because ultimately the UK exports sector is likely to lead companies out of the recession, in the short term at least.
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