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Recent data on the UK balance of payments suggest that the deficit is deteriorating, and this may lead to downward pressure on the exchange rate. Of course some of the recent deterioration is due to temporary factors, such as the need for expensive gas imports and the inclusion of the estimated payment of insurance claims by Lloyd's of London due to Hurricane Katrina. However, there are some structural factors to look at. In this note we explore the effects of globalisation on UK trade and draw some conclusions for the UK economy. We first discuss European integration and its possible effects on trade, after which we look at changes in the world trading environment, both in terms of regulations and also in relation to technology. We then turn to estimating relationships for exports and imports. The level of exports and the degree of import penetration in the economy depend upon the level of world activity, the nature of the goods produced in the UK as compared to those demanded by consumers, the price competitiveness of UK products and the general trading environment facing the economy.

Consumption behaviour in the UK is frequently seen as different from that in other countries. The relationship between the housing market and consumption is discussed at length in HM Treasury (2003). The housing market, which has been particularly cyclically volatile in the past 30 years, has contributed to cycles in consumption through its impact on housing wealth. Increased house prices increase the value of assets held, and impact on consumption, making the economy more cyclical. There is a clear relationship between the level of real financial plus housing net wealth as a proportion of income and the savings ratio (excluding adjustment for changes in net equity of households in pension funds), as can be seen from chart 1, where we plot the stock of total net assets over the flow of income to indicate just how much 'cover' the personal sector has on its current commitments. When wealth rises, for instance because real asset prices have risen, then individuals find themselves with more assets than they need and increase their consumption in order to return their assets to their equilibrium ratio to income. Clearly this process is not instantaneous, but cycles in wealth driven by house prices could have contributed to the cyclical nature of overall demand in the UK in the past 30 years.

Over the past year East Asia has featured prominently in the international debate over the widening global economic imbalances. In particular, China has attracted much attention for the nature of its currency regime and its large trade surplus. Until recently, China pursued a strict policy of tightly fixing the value of the renminbi against the US dollar and, as a result, Chinese exports have remained highly competitive while the US current account position has deteriorated markedly. A substantial widening of China's trade surplus in the first half of this year has sparked a great deal of criticism from the US regarding China's exchange rate regime. Protectionist threats from the US and growing domestic imbalances in the Chinese economy have succeeded in prompting the Chinese authorities to reform their exchange rate regime. On 21 July, Chinese authorities announced the abandonment of the longstanding US dollar peg in favour of a managed system where the renminbi is fixed against a basket of currencies. The specifics of this new exchange rate regime provide ample scope for further renminbi appreciation; however, this will be an orderly and drawn-out process dictated by both economic and market conditions.

Output growth in 2004 was 3.1 per cent, and the preliminary estimate for growth of GDP in the first quarter of 2005 was 0.6 per cent, slightly higher than on our early estimate. Relatively robust growth over the recent past suggests to us that the output gap has now closed, as we can see from chart 2. We anticipate that growth will rise further in the second quarter.

Movements in exchange rates attract much attention, both for the signals they may contain about future inflation prospects and for their implications for the competitiveness of firms. However, movements in bilateral exchange rates, for instance in sterling against the dollar or the euro, do not convey enough information for either policymakers or for firms except in relation to specific bilateral transactions. It is useful to construct summary measures of exchange rate movements, and there are a number of ways of doing this. The choice of measure depends upon the use to which it is to be put. Some measures, such as the effective exchange rate, are summary indicators, whilst others such as export competitive indices are more relevant when evaluating the prospects for export developments. Some indicators weight together nominal exchange rates. Others are measures of real exchange rates, weighting together exchange rate adjusted relative prices. The indicators chosen should be seen in the context in which they are used.