"It is a fantastic to start the New Year with a very positive quarterly survey. Confidence is high and our members are resolute in their determination to take the recovery from being good to being truly great."
- John Longworth, Director General of the BCC
A housing bubble? Imbalanced economic recovery? These were only the main topics among economists during the last year, as they expressed their concerns about the future prospects of the U.K. economy. The latest quarterly survey conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce showed the economic recovery is set to build up steam this year, as key indicators of economic health are higher than before the financial crisis in 2007. Better-than-expected data from the final quarter of 2013 are likely to pass through to the new year and should improve further in the short-term. During the last three months of 2013 the economy could accelerate to 0.9% from a 0.8% growth seen in the third quarter, the BCC said. While this level matched predictions made by the BoE, the ONS will unveil the data only on January 28.
According to the BCC, the central bank should keep its ultra-loose monetary policy for as long as it is need to prevent any setbacks. Mark Carney should not consider starting increasing rates before the planned time and should continue with his forward guidance and remain steadfast in plans to keep inflationary pressure around the threshold level of 2%. Economic strengthening has boosted the cable above 1.66, and while the pair is trading at 1.6422, a move back to the previous highs can be anticipated, taking into account more positive data from the U.K.
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