Describing today’s trade figures from the ONS, David Slater, Director of Trade at KPMG UK said
“Steady, albeit modest, growth in the UK economy does not reflect the increasing uncertainty associated with Brexit: the last 12 months has seen the trade deficit narrow – driven mostly by our world class services sector. Exports of services continue to outpace imports, and whilst exports of goods are also rising they are not doing so as quickly as imports. This is unlikely to change in the short term.
“Given the UK’s relative strength and competitive position in services, and the role services play to enable trade and underpin manufacturing, it is increasingly important that the needs of the sector are taken into account during negotiations with the EU.“
Ends
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About KPMG
KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 14,500 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a revenue of £2.2 billion in the year ended 30 September 2017. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 154 countries and territories and has 200,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.