"March's UK trade figures showed a bit of an improvement, although the external sector still looks likely to have dragged on GDP growth in the first quarter overall"
- Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics
The U.K.'s trade deficit shed in March, driven by exports to the Russia, China and U.S., Office for National Statistics data showed on Tuesday. Trade deficit narrowed to 2.7 billion pounds, down from 2.9 billion pounds in February.
"March's UK trade figures showed a bit of an improvement, although the external sector still looks likely to have dragged on GDP growth in the first quarter overall," said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
"The breakdown of the figures suggests that the Eurozone crisis is taking its toll," she said. "The rise in exports was driven by a 12% jump in exports to outside the EU; export values to the EU were flat."
"The deepening of the Eurozone crisis in recent days suggests that the near-term export outlook remains pretty poor, especially given the further rise in the pound."
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