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In a reflection of the challenges the government faces in striking a trade deal with the EU before the end of the year, Threadneedle Street said the date at which firms expected the issue to be clarified had been pushed further into the future.
According to the central bank’s decision maker panel, which surveys almost 3,000 chief financial officers from small, medium and large UK firms, as many as 42% said they thought the lack of clarity over Brexit that their business faced would not lift until at least 2021, up from 34% in November.
The findings come as factory output across the UK plunged in December at the fastest rate in almost seven and a half years, according to a separate survey. Both Brexit uncertainty and a wider manufacturing downturn around the world weighed on businesses.
In a sign of the stress firms face, IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply said that manufacturing production levels fell more in December than they had since July 2012. Factory output also fell sharply in Germany and other EU nations. Activity levels have slumped around the world as the US-China trade dispute continues. [...]
IHS Markit / Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply data
BoE's Monthly Decision Maker Panel data - December 2019