UK retail sales soared in March ahead of lockdown easing

British retail sales rocketed last month as consumers prepared for a partial lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across much of the country, official data showed on Friday.

Sales volumes jumped by 5.4% in March from February, the Office for National Statistics said, with clothing stores benefiting especially.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a month-on-month increase of 1.5%.

The ONS said the data reflected “the effect of the easing of coronavirus restrictions on consumer spending”.

Separate data showed Britain’s government borrowed 303.1 billion pounds ($420.1 billion) in the financial year which ended last month, a surge of 246 billion pounds on the previous year and the biggest share of the economy in peacetime.

Borrowing stood at 14.5% of economic output, the highest such ratio since 1946, after World War Two, when it was 15.2%.

The numbers reflected the surge in public spending and tax cuts to offset the economic hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: A man carries shopping along Oxford Street in London, Britain. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN