Britain's economy shrank by an unexpected 0.3% in April on a monthly basis, exacerbating fears of a slowdown three days before the Bank of England announced the range of its latest rate move to counter rising inflation.
According to Arabiya Net, the average opinion of economists in a Reuters poll indicated a 0.1% GDP growth in April, compared to March.
The Office for National Statistics said that the data represented the first time that all major economic sectors contributed negatively to the monthly GDP estimate since January 2021.
However, the office indicated that GDP would have grown by 0.1%, when excluding the effect of reducing government programs for testing, tracing contacts with people infected with the Coronavirus, and immunizing against the virus.
Over the three months to April, GDP rose 0.2%, slowing sharply from 0.8% growth in the three months to March.
A Reuters poll indicated growth of 0.4% in the February-April period.
