93 Quotes by Howard Archer

Manufacturers will be hoping that healthier growth in the euro zone and a recently softer pound will increasingly feed through to give them with a significant boost in 2006.

While the CBI survey indicated a marked softening in consumer spending following the relatively strong December performance, it nevertheless indicated a significantly stronger performance than that seen overall in recent months.

We believe the door is opening for an interest rate cut early in 2006 if the economy fails to show sustained significant signs of improvement over the next couple of months.

The overall trade performance was dragged down by a fifth successive deficit in oil trade and a reduced surplus in services.

We still believe UK interest rates will eventually be trimmed by a further 25 basis points, although not until August at the earliest.

There is a very real risk that consumer spending will be muted for an extended period without any other areas of the economy compensating significantly.

This subdued growth is expected to help to contain underlying inflationary pressures and risks, underpinning our belief that interest rates will be cut by a further 25 basis points in February or March.

We believe house price increases will be relatively muted over the coming months, given affordability constraints, increased debt levels and muted earnings growth.

This reinforces our belief that consumer spending will remain subdued for some time to come despite September's pick-up in retail sales.