Goods trade gap closes
Britain’s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed more than expected in April, although the improvement was driven by a sharp fall in demand for consumer goods, rather than any big improvement in exports.
The Office for National Statistics said that Britain’s goods trade gap narrowed to £7.389bn in April from £7.708bn in March, lower than analysts’ forecasts for a deficit of £7.55bn.
Economists said that while the figures suggest net trade would make a positive contribution to overall economic growth in the second quarter, the broadly steady level of exports was slightly disappointing. There was no market reaction to the data.