British trade deficit stable in April

LONDON: Britain's trade-in-goods deficit held steady in April after March data was revised downwards, according to official data published on Wednesday.

The deficit stood at 7.3 billion pounds (8.8 billion euros, 11 billion dollars) in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

That compared with a deficit of 7.3 billion pounds in March. This figure was originally put at 7.5 billion pounds.

The data suggests that the trade sector will be unable to compensate for the impact of widely-expected austerity measures in Britain, said Capital Economics analyst Vicky Redwood.

"The trade in goods deficit failed to narrow in April, holding steady at 7.3 billion pounds, a bit bigger than the 6.9-billion-pound average seen over the past year," she added.

In April, the value of exports slid 0.6 percent to 21.3 billion pounds, which was the first drop since January. Imports meanwhile declined 0.4 percent to 28.6 billion pounds.