Britain could officially slip into recession sooner than expected as Queen Elizabeth II's funeral weighs on the economy, economists cited by financial agency Agefi-Dow Jones warned.

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The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the new crown prince 121

The UK's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter due to the Queen's Platinum Jubilee holiday.

Now a new non-working day is scheduled for September 19 - for the funeral of Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II (English: Elizabeth II), full name Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) is queen and so production in the third quarter may also suffer.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday announced GDP growth of 0.2 per cent in July, following a contraction of 0.6 per cent in June.

Growth in the quarter to the end of July was zero, which it has been for four months, noted George Buckley, chief UK economist at Nomura.

According to him, an additional non-working day on September 19 could stop growth even before the recession expected for next year.

Consumption may decrease

The chief economist of "Investec" Philip Shaw comes to a similar conclusion.

After GDP shrank by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, a further decline in the third will push the UK economy into official recession, largely because of the extra days off.

According to him, this is not the main scenario, but such a possibility is not excluded, especially if the gloomy mood of the population leads to a drop in consumer spending during the period of mourning.

Violators were arrested in Edinburgh, where the funeral procession with the coffin of Elizabeth II passed

Britain is already seeing temporary shop closures and cancellations of sporting events, particularly football matches.

UK inflation hit 10.1 per cent on an annual basis in July - the highest level in 40 years.

Supermarket chain Asda has estimated that each household's spending power was cut by an average of £40 (€46) a week in July.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took over the government two days before the Queen Mother's death, has pledged to contain rising energy bills - a measure that could cost the country more than £100bn over the next two years.

According to Philip Shaw, the scale of the energy package should allow to avoid a recession at the end of this year and the beginning of next year.

But the main concern remains that budgetary support for the economy requires tighter monetary policy going forward to reduce inflationary pressures, the economist warned.

The Bank of England has already raised interest rates by 175 basis points since December 2021 and is expected to tighten monetary policy again at its next meeting.

However, investors will have to wait to learn the decision, which was postponed from September 15 to September 22 due to the mourning period in the United Kingdom.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the new heir to the throne

Elizabeth II