1. Outlook for the UK Economy
An off-the-record briefing for Eastbourne Chamber and members
Florence B C Hubert, Deputy Agent for Central Southern England
6 December 2016

2. Sterling
(a) UK referendum on EU membership on 23 June.

3. UK current account

4. Sources: Bank of England, BCC, CBI, IHS Markit and Bank calculations.
Goods exports
BCC and CBI measures are net percentage balances of manufacturing companies reporting that export
orders increased on the quarter. CIPS measure is the net percentage balance of manufacturing
companies reporting that export orders increased this month compared with the previous month;
quarterly average of monthly data. The Agents measure is manufacturing companies’ reported annual
growth in production for sales to overseas customers over the past three months; Q3 data are for
August.
(b) BCC data are non seasonally adjusted.
Sources: Bank of England, BCC, CBI, IHS Markit and Bank calculations.

5. Imported inflationary pressures
(a) The diamonds show Bank staff’s projections for 2016 Q3.
(b) Domestic currency non-oil export prices as defined in footnote (d), divided by the sterling
effective exchange rate.
(c) UK goods and services import deflator excluding fuels and the impact of MTIC fraud.
(d) Domestic currency non-oil export prices of goods and services of 51 countries weighted according to
their shares in UK imports. The sample excludes major oil exporters.
Sources: Bank of England, CEIC, Eurostat, ONS, Thomson Reuters Datastream and Bank calculations

6. Employment intentions surveys

7. Consumer confidence
Net balance of respondents expecting that the number of people unemployed will rise over the next
twelve months.
(b) Net balance of respondents reporting that, in view of the general economic situation, now is the right
time for people to make major purchases such as furniture or electrical goods.
(c) Net balance of respondents reporting that they expect their personal financial situation or the general
economic situation to improve over the next twelve months.
Sources: GfK (research carried out on behalf of the European Commission) and Bank calculations.

8. Factors influencing aggregate investment decisions
Factors influencing investment decisions over the next twelve months compared with the previous
twelve months. The balances show the proportion of companies indicating whether each factor is
pushing down, boosting or has no impact on capital expenditure decisions over the next twelve
months. Respondents could select more than one option. Responses are weighted by employment and
sectors are weighted by turnover. More detail on the survey can be found in the forthcoming Agents’
summary of business conditions published on 9 November.

9. Sources: Bank of England, BCC, CBI/PwC, EEF and Bank calculations.
Business investment intentions surveys
Chained-volume measure. Data are to 2016 Q2 and adjust for the transfer of the nuclear reactors form
the public corporation sector to central government in 2005 Q2.
(b) EEF and CBI measures are net percentage balances of respondents reporting that they have increased
planned investment in plant and machinery for the next twelve months. EEF measure corresponds to
the manufacturing sector and CBI sectoral surveys are weighted together using shares in real business
investment.
(c) BCC measure is the net percentage balance of respondents reporting that they have increased planned
investment in plant and machinery. Sectoral surveys are weighted together using shares in real
business investment. Data are non seasonally adjusted.
(d) Agents measure shows companies’ intended changes in investment over the next twelve months, with
sectoral surveys weighted together using shares in real business investment. Q3 figure reflects data
for the average of July and August.
Sources: Bank of England, BCC, CBI/PwC, EEF and Bank calculations.

10. The Monetary Policy Committee (created in 1997)
Low, stable and predictable consumer price inflation
Remit
Responsible for maintaining price stability (2% CPI inflation) and, subject to that, supporting the Government’s economic policy, including its objectives for growth and employment.
Who and when
Nine members, each individually accountable to Parliament and meet over three days, eight times a year.

11. CPI inflation projection based on market interest rate expectations, other policy measures as announced
Charts 5.2 and 5.3 depict the probability of various outcomes for CPI inflation in the future. They have been conditioned on the assumptions in Table 5.B footnote (b). If economic circumstances identical to today’s were to prevail on 100 occasions, the MPC’s best collective judgement is that inflation in any particular quarter would lie within the darkest central band on only 30 of those occasions. The fan charts are constructed so that outturns of inflation are also expected to lie within each pair of the lighter red areas on 30 occasions. In any particular quarter of the forecast period, inflation is therefore expected to lie somewhere within the fans on 90 out of 100 occasions. And on the remaining 10 out of 100 occasions inflation can fall anywhere outside the red area of the fan chart. Over the forecast period, this has been depicted by the light grey background. See the box on pages 48–49 of the May 2002 Inflation Report for a fuller description of the fan chart and what it represents. :

12. GDP projection based on market interest rate expectations, other policy measures as announced
The fan chart depicts the probability of various outcomes for GDP growth. It has been conditioned on the assumptions in Table 5.B footnote (b). To the left of the vertical dashed line, the distribution reflects the likelihood of revisions to the data over the past; to the right, it reflects uncertainty over the evolution of GDP growth in the future. If economic circumstances identical to today’s were to prevail on 100 occasions, the MPC’s best collective judgement is that the mature estimate of GDP growth would lie within the darkest central band on only 30 of those occasions. The fan chart is constructed so that outturns are also expected to lie within each pair of the lighter green areas on 30 occasions. In any particular quarter of the forecast period, GDP growth is therefore expected to lie somewhere within the fan on 90 out of 100 occasions. And on the remaining 10 out of 100 occasions GDP growth can fall anywhere outside the green area of the fan chart. Over the forecast period, this has been depicted by the light grey background. See the box on page 39 of the November 2007 Inflation Report for a fuller description of the fan chart and what it represents. :

13. Unemployment projection based on market interest rate expectations, other policy measures as announced
The fan chart depicts the probability of various outcomes for LFS unemployment. It has been conditioned on the assumptions in Table 5.B footnote (b). The coloured bands have the same interpretation as in Chart 5.2, and portray 90% of the probability distribution. The calibration of this fan chart takes account of the likely path dependency of the economy, where, for example, it is judged that shocks to unemployment in one quarter will continue to have some effect on unemployment in successive quarters. The fan begins in 2016 Q3, a quarter earlier than the fan for CPI inflation. That is because Q3 is a staff projection for the unemployment rate, based in part on data for July and August. The unemployment rate was 4.9% in the three months to August, and is projected to be 4.9% in Q3 as a whole. A significant proportion of this distribution lies below Bank staff’s current estimate of the long-term equilibrium unemployment rate. There is therefore uncertainty about the precise calibration of this fan chart.

14. Source: Bank of England
Bank Rate (since 1694)
Per cent
Source: Bank of England

15. Sources: Bloomberg and Bank calculations.
Forward interest rates in advanced economies
Derived from the yields of five and ten-year benchmark government bonds. Green lines show data for:
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States.
Sources: Bloomberg and Bank calculations.

17. Summary of the economic outlook
Uncertainty likely to weigh on both demand and supply.
Growth projected to slow, but only modestly.
Lower sterling may help exporters, but will raise inflation.
Still much uncertainty about how these effects evolve.
MPC watching carefully and ready to move, in either direction.

18. Economic conditions you are seeing Tour de table
Pace of activity
Turnover growth - UK and exports if relevant
Investment and employment plans
Price inflation
Effects of sterling on your costs
Wages
Prices to your customers