UK government hopes exports that would finally begin to power ahead are set to take a knock this week when a key survey from the British Chambers of Commerce is expected to reveal a gloomy outlook, NewsNow reported. The report due on Thursday will show that the balance of manufacturers reporting improved export sales in the final three months of 2015 has dropped to its lowest level in six years–leaving manufacturing facing an extended period of stagnation. It will come as a blow to Chancellor George Osborne, who has repeatedly stressed the importance of boosting exports as a means of rebalancing the economy away from services. Exports have been adversely affected by sterling’s strength and the weakness of European economies. BCC director general John Longworth has called on the government to ‘fix the fundamentals’ of skills, infrastructure and access to capital to boost manufacturing. The BCC has already downgraded its economic forecast for gross domestic product growth in 2016 from 2.7% to 2.5%.
