GBP/CAD is looking to end the week on a positive note after a bearish trend that slashed the election gains and sent the pair to the lowest level in December. On Friday, the pound is bouncing back after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the gross domestic product (GDP) data.
Currently, one British pound buys 1.7134 Canadian dollars, up 0.37% as of 10:15 AM UTC. The pair might become volatile again during the UK Parliament’s session when lawmakers will vote the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) amended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to rule out any potential extension of the Brexit transition deadline.
Recently, the ONS data for the third quarter showed that Britain’s GDP grew faster than initially estimated. The country’s account deficit tumbled to its smallest level since 2012.
The UK economy grew 0.4% in the third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 0.3% growth. The figure was revised up to reflect better results in services and construction output.
The government’s statistics office said that the growth in goods exports helped the country’s balance of payments deficit decline to 15.860 billion pounds, compared to 24.152 billion pounds in the second quarter.
Relative to the economic output fell, the deficit dropped to 2.8%, which is the smallest reading since 2012.
Britain’s GDO grew by 1.1% in the year to the end of September, which is 0.1% better than the previous estimate of 1.0% growth. Economists surveyed by Reuters predicted the economy would grow 1.3% this year.
Despite the better-than-expected GDP growth, Andrew Wishart, UK economist at Capital Economics, said that “the underlying picture is still that there is very little momentum in the economy.”
The Bank of England (BoE) said yesterday it was waiting to see more relevant signals about how much the national election was easing the Brexit uncertainty that has negatively impacted the economy during the last three years. On a side note, the central bank left the interest rate unchanged at 0.75%.
Earlier today, the UK’s new government appointed Andrew Bailey as the next Governor of the BoE. He replaces departing boss Mark Carney.
