-->... der Angelschsen. Denn (ex Daily Telegraph):

UK trade deficit at highest ever level

By Edmund Conway (Filed: 10/03/2004)

Britain's trade deficit rose to an all-time high in January as
the weak dollar hit manufacturers' exports.

The Office for National
Statistics (ONS) said
the surprise shortfall
in the trade of goods
with the rest of the
world rose from £3.1
billion in December to
£5.6 billion.

This is well above the
market's expectation
of £4.2 billion, and
the biggest deficit
since records began in
the 17th century.

The news knocked
more than half a cent
off the value of the pound, pushing it to $1.8382 against
the dollar and 67.49 pence against the euro.

Analysts said traders were concerned that the poor figures
might make it less likely that the Bank of England would
raise interest rates at its next meeting in April.

Economists said the current account's deterioration could be
attributed to sterling's 11-year highs against the dollar
during January, which deterred US businesses from
importing goods from the UK.

Exports to the US, which account for 15pc of the UK's
market, tumbled almost 30pc to £1.9 billion.

The overall trade figures were boosted by the trade in
services, which rose 11pc to a surplus of £1 billion,
meaning the overall trade deficit was £4.6 billion.

The figures also showed, however, that Britain became a
net importer of oil for the first time in 13 years during the
month. The deficit in trade of crude oil was £37m. The ONS
had provisionally thought the UK's balance of trade in oil
had slipped into the red last September but later revised
its figures.

The ONS also published separate figures which showed the
manufacturing sector's output rose by 0.2pc in January -
weaker than City expectations.

Deutsche Bank's UK economist, George Buckley, said both
ONS figures were of considerable concern.

"There is reason to think the trade surplus with the US is at
risk," he said."But the trade figures are often volatile and
we hope that this proves to be a blip, coming after a
reasonably strong month for exports in December."

James Arbuthnot, Conservative shadow minister for trade,
said:"We have now had a trade deficit in every month
since January 1998. It underlines some serious and
worrying imbalances in the UK economy. The Government's
addiction to taxation and regulation is now hurting British
businesses more than ever."


10 January 2004: UK trade gap hits £3.3bn a month

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