The UK economy has shown strong growth in the first three months of the year, marking the end of what economists called a “technical recession”. Official data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter, beating the 0.4% growth expected by economists. This positive recovery comes after two consecutive quarters of modest declines, indicating broad-based strength across a range of sectors.
Despite this growth, overall economic expansion has been sluggish over the past year due to high interest rates that have remained at 5.25%, which is the highest in 16 years. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has suggested that a rate cut could be implemented in June if inflation continues to fall, which may help boost economic growth and curb the dampening effect of high interest rates on borrowing costs.