Update: UK Aug Trade Gaps Widen Sharply As Oil Deficit Surges

-Adds Detail To Version Transmitted 0830 GMT; Corrects July Oil Number
-UK Aug global goods trade deficit stg9.844b vs stg7.34b Jul
-UK Aug total trade deficit stg4.169b vs stg1.705b Jul

LONDON (MNI) – A marked increase in the oil deficit fueled a sharp
widening in the UK’s trade deficits in August.

The August total trade deficit surged to stg4.169 billion from
stg1.705 billion in July while the goods trade deficit widened to
stg9.844 billion from stg7.337 billion in July, with both measures much
wider than analysts’ median forecast.

The August total trade deficit was the second highest on record,
surpassed only by the stg4.248 billion deficit in April.

The oil deficit accounted for almost stg1 billion of the widening,
increasing to stg1.659 billion in August from stg0.695 billion in July.

Excluding oil, the trade in goods deficit still widened in August,
to stg8.185 billion from stg6.642 billion in July. This, however, was
pretty much in line with recent outturns. The trade in goods excluding
oil deficit was stg8.809 billion in April and stg8.514 billion in June.

National Statistics said the wider oil deficit may just represent
the pattern of deliveries, which depends simply on when tankers unload
rather than anything more fundamental.

The trade in services deficit only edged wider, to stg5.675 billion
from stg5.632 billion in July and narrower than the stg6.171 billion
seen in June.

The data suggest there has been little deterioration in the
underlying trend, with the total trade deficit in the three months
through August standing at stg9.8 billion compared with stg9.2 billion
in the previous three months.

The EU deficit widened to stg4.872 billion from stg4.408 billion in
July with a sharper widening in the non-EU deficit, which spiked to
stg4.972 billion from stg2.929 billion.

–London newsroom: 44 20 7862 7491; email: drobinson@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$BDS$,M$B$$$,MABDS$]