Prospect of pre-Christmas interest rate rise recedes as UK recovery stutters

October GDP increase of only 0.1% weaker than expected, with number of people dining out falling

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Prospects of a pre-Christmas rise in interest rates have rapidly diminished amid signs that Britain's economic recovery had come close to stalling even before the onset of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Financial markets now expect the Bank of England to leave borrowing costs at 0.1% after the release on Friday of figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that in October, the first month after the end of the government's furlough scheme, output grew by only 0.1%.