UK economy sees slowest H1 growth rate since 2012

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - The British economy grew 0.3 percent in the three months to June this year, official figures released on Wednesday stated.

Expansion in the second quarter followed 0.2 percent growth in the first three months of 2017 but statistics showed the U.K. has had the slowest growth rate in the first half of a year since 2012.

GDP grew 0.2 percent in the January-to-March period and by 0.3 percent between April and June, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS said Britain’s economy expanded 1.7 percent over the last 12 months, down from 2 percent three months ago.

Wednesday’s figures also suggested industrial output shrank by 0.4 percent, construction contracted by 0.9 percent and manufacturing fell back by 0.5 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday downgraded its U.K. economic growth forecast by 0.3 per cent following a weaker-than-expected performance in the first three months of 2017. It was the first time the IMF had downgraded U.K. growth since last year's Brexit referendum.