Britain's economy grew slightly faster than expected in the final quarter of last year to record the strongest full-year performance since 2004, a sign that it is holding some ground in the wake of the credit crunch.
The Office for National Statistics said in preliminary data on Wednesday that the economy grew 0.6 per cent in the final quarter of 2007, easing from 0.7 per cent in the third quarter but just above forecasts for a reading of 0.5 per cent.
It was still the lowest quarterly growth rate since third quarter 2006 and took the annual rate down to 2.9 per cent in the fourth quarter from 3.3 per cent in the three months to September.
The annual growth rate was the lowest since the second quarter 2006 but also just above economists' consensus expectations.
The pound rose as the data suggested the economy is not decelerating as swiftly as many had forecast in the wake of the credit crisis, indicating that the Bank of England may not need to cut borrowing costs as much as expected this year.