LONDON: British shoppers cut back on spending in the three months to December for the first time since last spring, adding to evidence of a consumer slowdown as Brexit approaches, data showed on Friday.
Retail sales volumes fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a 0.2 percent rise in the three months to November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Friday’s data chimed with other signs that consumer spending is cooling after a strong summer.
Businesses are also cutting investment before Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union in late March, leaving the overall economy growing at a snail’s pace.
In December alone, retail sales fell 0.9 percent, recoiling after November’s Black Friday splurges, but were 3.0 percent higher than a year earlier. Both readings were below economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll.
“A major concern for retailers will be that already cautious consumers further limit their spending in the near term at least due to the heightened uncertainties over Brexit,” economist Howard Archer from the EY ITEM Club consultancy said.
Sterling and British government bonds were little changed after the data.
The ONS said the value of sales fell for the first time in three years in the three months to December, underlining a squeeze on retailers’ profit margins as they battle for customers.
A survey last week from the British Retail Consortium showed retailers failed to increase Christmas sales for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis a decade ago.
Supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Morrison missed Christmas sales forecasts though Tesco beat them. Clothing retailer Next and department store John Lewis reported a late surge in demand.
The ONS data showed a drop in sales of carpets and floor coverings, possibly reflecting a stalling housing market.
While disarray over Brexit has weighed on consumer confidence, there has been some comfort for households recently with the fastest underlying pay growth since 2008 and inflation falling to an almost two-year low of 2.1 percent.
Highlighting the easing of inflation pressures, the ONS’s measure of annual price increases in stores cooled to 0.6 percent in December from 1.3 percent in November, the smallest uptick in more than two years.
UK shoppers rein in spending as Brexit nears
UK shoppers rein in spending as Brexit nears
- Retail sales volumes fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a 0.2 percent rise in the three months to November
- Businesses are also cutting investment before Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU in late March
Canada deepens investment ties with Qatar, expands economic engagement with Egypt
RIYADH: Canada and Qatar moved to formalize a more in-depth and investment-focused partnership during an official visit by the country’s Prime Minister Mark Carney to Doha.
The visit was the first by a sitting Canadian leader, with both governments agreeing to elevate bilateral ties through new economic, security, and financial frameworks.
At the center of the meeting was an agreement to launch a foreign ministers–level strategic dialogue and advance a pipeline of trade, investment, and defense cooperation initiatives aligned with Canada’s diversification priorities and Qatar National Vision 2030.
Several memorandums of understanding were signed, including accords on joint economic cooperation, information technology, and security collaboration for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Canada will co-host.
The visit underscored the rapid expansion of Qatar–Canada relations, which have gained momentum following high-level exchanges in recent years, including a 2024 visit by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to Ottawa.
Both sides emphasized trade and investment as a central pillar of the relationship, with Qatar committing to significant strategic investments in Canadian nation-building projects and the North American nation pledging to send a delegation of investors, including major pension funds, to explore opportunities in Qatar.
“Qatar is an effective, expansive, and increasing diplomatic force in the world today. They are a critical partner to Canada in many shared pursuits of peace and stability, from Ukraine to the Middle East,” Carney said.
“It is a relationship forged over many years by profound acts of friendship, including the Qataris’ effort to evacuate more than 200 Canadians from Afghanistan in 2021. Now we’re elevating our relationship — with an ambitious, new strategic partnership across trade, commerce, investment, AI, and defense — to deliver greater stability, security, and prosperity for our peoples,” he added.
As part of the economic agenda, the two governments agreed to conclude negotiations on a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement by summer 2026 and to begin talks on a Double Taxation Agreement.
They also committed to expanding bilateral air services and establishing a Joint Economic Commission to support cooperation across sectors, including mining, agriculture, telecommunications, transportation, and science.
Financial cooperation featured prominently alongside the diplomatic talks.
Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, governor of the Qatar Central Bank and chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority, met with Canada’s Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to discuss cooperation in banking and finance and ways to deepen institutional collaboration.
Separately, Canada’s economic engagement in the region extended to Egypt, where Cairo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, met with a delegation of business leaders from the North American country.
The talks focused on strengthening trade and investment ties, with Egyptian officials encouraging Canadian companies to expand investments in energy, agriculture, and water resources.
According to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, Abdelatty highlighted recent economic and financial reforms aimed at improving the investment climate and reaffirmed government support for the Egyptian-Canadian Business Council in attracting Canadian capital and boosting Egyptian exports.
The discussions were built on outcomes from political consultations held in April, which included an Egyptian business delegation’s visit to Ottawa.
