Britain's GDP grows 0.3% in Q1

Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) in volume terms was estimated to have increased by 0.3 percent between the last quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, unrevised from the previous publication, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday. In current prices, British GDP was estimated to have increased by 0.9 percent for the same period. The households' saving ratio was estimated to be 4.2 percent in last quarter, the weakest since the first quarter of 2009 when it was 3.4 percent, the third reading of the ONS on National Account showed. Real household disposable income increased by 1.4 percent between 2011 and 2012. This is the highest growth since 2009 when it rose by 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, the overall current account deficit actually widened from 13.6 billion pounds (20.8 billion U.S. dollars) to a colossal 14.5 billion pounds (or 3.6 percent of GDP) last quarter, in another report released by the ONS on the same day. "We think the record deficit highlights the potential for policymakers to switch their attention to doing more to keep the pound down," said Capital Economics, the London-based economy research company. "Overall, we remain cautious about the economy's near-term prospects and still think that Mr. Carney (who will become the governor of the Bank of England from July) should, and will, take action after he arrives next week to ensure the recovery gains traction," it said.