LONDON, May 12, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Britain's economy grew at a slower pace in
the first quarter compared with the final three months of last year as the
country battled soaring inflation, official data showed Thursday.

  The economy grew 0.8 percent in the January-March period compared with
expansion of 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the Office for
National Statistics said in a statement.

  After solid output in January, the UK economy posted zero growth the
following month and contracted by 0.1 percent in March, ONS data showed.

  It comes after the Bank of England last week warned that Britain risks
falling into recession with UK inflation expected to top 10 percent, a four-
decade high, by the end of the year.

  Consumer prices are surging worldwide on supply strains as economies reopen
from pandemic lockdowns -- and in the wake of the Ukraine war that is
aggravating already high energy costs. Britain's own cost-of-living crisis
was blamed in part for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative
party losing control of key councils in recent local elections.