UK’S GDP UP BUT DEBT ZOOMS TO 2.1-TRILLION POUNDS

Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by a record 16 percent in the third quarter - the largest quarterly expansion in the economy since records began, revised figures showed, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The figures, published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), showed GDP growth was higher than the 15.5-per-cent rate reported after the first calculation. The growth came as Britain began easing lockdown measures in the summer and allowing non-essential shops, bars and restaurants to reopen.

But statisticians said it was not enough to combat the contraction from the second quarter (April to June), after the lockdown was imposed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. GDP was 8.6 per cent lower than where it had been at the end of 2019, ONS added.

Meanwhile, borrowing from the government hit a record 31.6 billion pounds (42.3 billion dollars) in November - the highest figure for borrowing in November and the third-highest borrowing in any month in ONS’ history. It spent 80.6 billion pounds in November, including 5.9 billion pounds on its job retention schemes for people at risk of being made redundant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Britain’s public sector net debt is now nearly 2.1 trillion pounds, which is around 99.5 per cent of GDP, the highest debt to GDP ratio since the financial year ending 1962.

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