UK trade gap widens in April
The UK trade deficit for April increased from £7.259 billion in March to £7.279 billion in April although the figures were overshadowed somewhat by the volcanic ash saga which grounded planes for over a week. While the figures are slightly disappointing, in that many experts had expected imports to increase, these are probably figures we can discount because of the unknown entity which was the volcanic ash cloud saga.
However, there is growing concern regarding the strength of the euro zone economy which is a major trading partner of the UK. If we see a weakness in the euro zone this will certainly impact upon UK business levels and could see the UK trade deficit increase in the short-term. The truth is that economic forecasting has never been more difficult than it is today because of a great number of unknown entities which are entering the frame. It seems that one disaster after another is following the worldwide economy and there are real concerns of a potential doomsday scenario in the medium term.
We should not underestimate the impact which the worldwide economic difficulties are having upon consumer confidence because ultimately it will be consumer spending which pulls the worldwide economy into a new growth phase.
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