Economics
U.K. Current-Account Deficit Widens Ahead of Brexit
- Shortfall climbs to 3.9% of economic output in second quarter
- GDP growth left unchanged at 0.4% but firms cut spending
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The U.K. current-account deficit widened more than economists forecast in the second quarter, raising fresh questions about the sustainability of the shortfall as Britain prepares for Brexit.
The gap between money leaving the U.K. and money coming in stood at 20.3 billion pounds ($26.5 billion) between April and June, the equivalent of 3.9 percent of gross domestic product. A shortfall of 19.4 billion pounds was forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.