Key View

• We forecast real household spending in the UK to grow by a further 5.3% y-o-y over 2022, as further easing of restrictions supports a return to more normalised consumer spending patterns.
• Our view for the 2022 outlook has, however, adopted to be more cautious for the UK consumer, in light of elevated inflation and stalled real wage

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions now expect that the UK’s current account deficit will widen to 4.0% of GDP in 2022, from 2.6% last year.
• Central to our more downbeat view is the conflict in Ukraine, which we expect will predominantly impact the UK via a negative terms of trade shock.
• The conflict will also simultaneously weigh on import

Key View

• The UK's EV Infrastructure Strategy, released in March 2022, provides greater clarity on the central role private entities and local authorities will play in the long-term rollout of EV charging infrastructure, and we are broadly positive on the Strategy's ability to catalyse private sector investment towards meeting its overall aims

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions have revised down our forecast for UK real GDP in 2022 from 4.6% to 4.0%, in-line with Bloomberg consensus.
• The headline growth rate will mostly reflect statistical carryover effects and a strong outturn in Q122, with activity set to moderate sharply on a quarter-on-quarter basis over the course of the year.
• Th

Key View: We believe that post-Brexit, the development of the UK's electric vehicle (EV) market will increasingly rely on the development of a local EV supply chain to aid the country in adopting EVs over our 2022-2031 forecast period. We expect total EV sales to reach just under 367,000 units in 2022, which would represent 16.7% y-o-y growth

Key View:

• UK natural gas production is set to rise by 9% in 2022, up from 0% previously, due to a several new projects and less disruptive maintenance.
• We have revised the UK’s gas production forecast in 2023, to -3.5% from -9% previously, due to several new projects in 2022 and a brighter capex environment.
• Over the long term, we forecast

Key View

• GSK reiterates that it will divest its Consumer Healthcare business in 2022 and has rejected offers to purchase the business from Unilever.
• GSK expects underlying revenue growth of between 5% and 7% in 2022, removing the impact of products for the treatment of Covid-19.
• Sales of Covid-19 treatments drove a strong performance in Q421

Key View

• At Fitch Solutions, we believe that discount stores will be able to further increase their market share in the UK over 2022. The key driver behind our view is the increase of the cost of living, fuelled by high inflation, which will increase consumer demand for lower priced grocery products.
• We highlight that the increase in the

The Latest: In-line with both our own expectations and the Bloomberg consensus forecast, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise its benchmark interest rate – the Bank Rate – by a further 25 basis points (bps) to 0.50% at its February policy meeting. In a surprisingly development, however, four of the nine members of

Key View

• We at Fitch Solutions now anticipate that UK real GDP will expand by 4.5% in 2022, a modest downward revision from our prior forecast for a 5.0% increase.
• The change to our forecasts reflects the prospect of somewhat tighter monetary policy, elevated inflation and a recent deterioration in the epidemiological situation.
• Nevertheless