Chartered accountants say UK recession is over
A record surge in confidence among business professionals indicates Britain’s recession is at an end.
Optimism among professionals in the third quarter hit its highest level since the start of the financial crisis two years ago, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) said.
The confidence measure jumped to 4.8 at the end of June from -28.2 in March – the biggest improvement since the survey began in 2003. The institute predicts that the economy will grow by 0.5% this quarter, breaking five quarters of falling output.
ICAEW chief executive Michael Izza said the findings suggest that “the UK recession is at an end”…
Asian shares advanced strongly today on fresh optimism over the global recovery, following upbeat comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and news that Thailand has come out of recession.
“We seem to be on our way to the moon today on Ben Bernanke’s coat tails,” said David Buik at BGC Partners.
The ICAEW survey showed that UK businesses expected a rise in all but one of 14 key financial performance indicators in the coming year, in contrast to earlier in the year when most were expected to contract.
Monty Python fans will know about Chartered Accountants. Just picture a blend of your least favorite CPA and Attila the Hun.
This recovery seems to be happening just as fast as the crisis happened.
It’s almost as if there was no real crisis at all, just a bunch of wealthy people fleecing the sheep and now that they’ve got all the wool, it’s back to business as usual.
Cynical? Who, me?
Cinaedh
August 24, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Perhaps the crisis is just over until they’ve ran out of stimulus money?
Jägermeister
August 24, 2009 at 3:22 pm