Uk refinancing car loan

This publication is a summary of monthly reports compiled by the Bank of England's Agents, following discussions with around 1,700 businesses in the period between mid-January and mid-April. It provides information on the state of business conditions, from firms across all sectors of the economy. The report does not represent the Bank's own views, nor does it represent the views of any particular firm or region. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee uses the intelligence provided by the Agents, in conjunction with information from other sources, to assist its understanding and assessment of current economic conditions.

* Comments from farming contacts during the period were dominated by the impact of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Signs that confidence in the agricultural sector was beginning to improve have now reversed. Elsewhere in the sector, the adverse effects of earlier poor weather on arable farming persisted.

* Manufacturing output growth slowed overall in recent months. The slowdown was particularly marked in the information, communications and technology (ICT) sector. Output growth in most other areas of manufacturing remained little changed. However, deteriorating confidence about future conditions was widespread across manufacturing firms during the period.

* Construction growth strengthened considerably in recent months, as firms worked to reduce backlogs caused by earlier weather-related delays. Underlying demand remained strong in most areas of construction.

* Service sector growth slowed during the period, in both business and consumer services. The slowdown in business services largely reflected weaker ICT and financial services activity. In consumer services, the knock-on effects of FMD resulted in a significant decline in UK tourism-related activity, particularly in rural areas.

* Annual growth in retail sales values increased compared with the previous Agents' Summary, although most Agencies suggested that this reflected substitution away from spending on leisure services in rural areas. New car sales to individuals strengthened further in most regions.

* Overall, export growth remained robust for most of the period, although many Agencies noted a slowdown in more recent weeks. In most cases, the slowdown reflected weaker demand from the United States. Import growth appeared to pick up further in many regions.

* Investment intentions appeared to weaken, in both manufacturing and services, during the period. Agencies reported a significant downward revision to investment plans by many high-tech firms. In some cases, this was already feeding through to current spending.

* Input price inflation continued to slow during the period. There was more evidence of manufacturers raising output prices compared with the previous Agents' Summary, although most prices remained flat. Agencies reported that retail goods price pressure was also slightly stronger during the period, with prices now generally stable compared with a year earlier, rather than failing as previously.

* Skill shortages eased slightly overall during the period from very high levels. Agents also suggested a softer picture of employment growth recently, driven by weaker demand in the ICT sector and financial services. Agents reported broadly unchanged manufacturing pay settlements, although non-settlement pay growth appeared to pick up a little in some regions (reflecting earlier productivity improvements). Some Agencies noted signs of slower earnings growth in some parts of the service sector late in the period.

OUTPUT

Primary production

Comments from farming contacts during the period were dominated by the impact of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Livestock output declined significantly compared with the previous Agents' Summary, although it was thought to be too soon to estimate the overall impact on sectoral output. In any case, contacts suggested that it was likely to be some time before the sector recovered. Many Agencies mentioned that signs that confidence in the sector was beginning to improve have now reversed. There were reports, however, that the banking sector was providing some support to farmers (eg introducing moratoriums on debt repayments and extending loan facilities).

Elsewhere in the sector, Agencies continued to report adverse effects of the earlier poor weather. In particular, delays to harvesting and planting of crops were still occurring due to the problem of waterlogged land.

Manufacturing

Reports suggested that manufacturing activity slowed overall as the period progressed. This was particularly marked in the information, communications and technology (ICT) sector and so affected those regions more heavily dependent on these industries (such as Scotland and parts of southern England). This resulted from the rationalisation of worldwide production and a slowing in domestic demand for these goods. Moreover, the weakening in demand was unexpected in many cases. As a result, many firms reported some build-up in stocks. Confidence in the ICT sector deteriorated significantly during the period. Reflecting this, most firms have revised down their expectations of output and export growth in coming quarters.

In most regions, growth in other areas of manufacturing remained little changed. The strongest areas of activity appeared to be aerospace and pharmaceuticals. However, Agencies suggested that even some of those firms noticing little slowdown in orders to date were becoming increasingly concerned about the outlook for the coming months.

Construction and housing

Construction output growth strengthened considerably as the period progressed, as firms worked to reduce backlogs caused by earlier weather-related delays. Underlying demand remained strong in most areas of construction, and even strengthened in several regions. Commercial activity remained robust in most regions, particularly in the retail sector. However, Agencies noted that some activity (notably pipe-laying by utility companies) was delayed in rural areas due to FMD access restrictions.

Some Agencies noted that earlier expectations of a pick-up in public sector construction activity were beginning to be realised. Many Agencies also noted a strengthening in housebuilding in recent weeks. Looking forward, while current orders were expected to sustain robust construction growth through the remainder of 2001, the outlook further ahead appeared to soften recently. Notably, a downturn in confidence of some ICT firms resulted in downward revisions to plans for the construction of new buildings.

Services

Service sector growth slowed during the period--in both business and consumer services. The slowdown in business services growth largely reflected a downturn in demand for ICT services. Growth in financial services also slowed, mostly a reflection of weaker corporate finance (due predominantly to a downturn in M&A activity) and securities trading activity. In addition, the slowdown in the US economy and equity price falls during the period caused more caution regarding purchases of investment products by consumers. But some Agencies suggested that mortgage activity, particularly refinancing, strengthened during the period. Activity in other professional services remained strong (eg legal and accountancy services).

Growth in consumer services also slowed in recent months. This mostly reflected the adverse impact of FMD on tourism-related activities in rural areas. Related leisure activities in affected regions also recorded some decline in demand as a result of FMD (eg spending in local shops, pubs and restaurants). In addition, the slowdown in demand for tourism-related activities was exacerbated by a recent decline in corporate business-- particularly from the United States.

Some Agencies noted that there were offsetting gains in some coastal and urban areas (see Consumer spending). However, Agencies suggested that, even at the aggregate level, overall activity was likely to be lower because of the effects on tourism--both inbound and outbound.

DEMAND

Consumption

Annual retail sales value growth increased compared with the previous Agents' Summary. However, rather than representing an underlying strengthening in household spending, Agencies suggested that it reflected a temporary boost from FMD-as consumers substituted away from leisure spending in rural areas to spending on goods in urban areas. Many Agencies reported that some of the recent strength was driven by higher sales of furniture and home furnishings, partly reflecting the impact of earlier flood damage. In contrast, some weakening was reported in areas of earlier rapid growth, such as consumer electronics and mobile phones. New car sales to individuals strengthened further during the period in most regions, particularly during the March registration period.