MNI BRIEF: BOE Survey: Firms See Covid Hit Over By Q3

Senior UK corporate executives expect the hit to business from the Covid pandemic to finally come to an end in Q3 2022, according to the Bank of England's latest Decision Maker Panel survey. The DMP survey, conducted between 4 and 18 Feb, found firms estimated that sales would be 7% lower due to Covid than they would otherwise have been, with investment 6% down and employment 4% down.

In Q3, however, the impact on investment and sales was expected to be zero, with firms anticipating some catch up, with investment expected to be 1.4% higher in 2023 than it would have been absent Covid. The survey found plenty of evidence of a tight labour market and rising inflation expectations In February, 86% of firms said that it was harder than normal to recruit new employees. Expected year ahead output price inflation rose to 4.8%. from an expectation of 4.5% in Jan.