UK Card Spending Running 35% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels, BOE Data Shows

 

• Spending on payment cards in Britain last week stood 35% below pre-pandemic levels with the country in its third national COVID-19 lockdown, although the hit was not as severe as seen during parts of last year.
• The Bank of England's figures, published for the first time on Thursday, showed a sharp slowdown this month after a surge in spending during December when parts of the economy reopened temporarily even though COVID-19 cases were soaring.
• While spending during the week to Jan. 14 was running below its level during the previous lockdown in November, it was still some way above the levels during the first lockdown which began in March 2020.
• Other surveys have similarly pointed to renewed weakness in consumer confidence, with Britain likely now in a double-dip recession as it struggles to regain control of the virus, according to a Reuters poll of economists last week.

_{(Source: Reuters)}