Trade defecit at largest since records began

Graham_Devon

The gulf between what the UK sells to the world and what it buys from foreign manufacturers rose to a record level in June, shattering hopes of an export-led recovery from the double-dip recession.

The goods and services deficit - the gap between imports and exports - ballooned from £2.7billion in May to £4.3billion, making it the biggest since comparable records began in 1997.

The increase was driven by a 4.6 per cent month-on-month fall in the value of exports, which was not just to countries within the troubled eurozone but to those outside ti as well, the Office for National Statistics figures showed.

BOE statement looks even more over optimistic now.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2185956/Ballooning-trade-deficit-dashes-hopes-export-fuelled-recovery.html

Generali

Trade figures are notoriously noisy.

IIRC, a Labour Government fell in the 1960s, basically because BOAC bought a bunch of airplanes from abroad during an election campaign.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4112155

Also, there seems to be an attitude that running a trade deficit is bad and running a surplus is good. Both are unsustainable, exports should pay for imports.

Masomnia

Doesn't that mean that foreign investment in the UK is at its highest too?

John_Pierpoint

The bald figures mean not a lot as the balance will balance.
Our American cousins have been living off the backs of the Chinese for years, by simply giving them post dated cheques, known as long bonds.
We are doing something similar and it just makes the point about the Chancellor having to act all tough for fear that we might join Greece and Spain.
The Japanese are particularly honourable and at the moment the rest of the world trusts them.
But something is going to "give" sooner or later.
Trick question: How much has government current expenditure actually fallen?