The UK's deficit on trade in goods with the rest of the world fell to an 18-month low in December. Britain's goods trade gap fell to £7.367bn from a record £8.114bn in November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. That was the lowest the gap - the difference between imports and exports - has been since June 2007 and was well below analysts' forecasts of £8.1bn. The narrowing gap was driven by a 2.5% fall in imports rather than an improvement in exports. The ONS provisionally estimated the trade deficit for 2008 as a whole at £93.2bn, compared with £89.3bn in 2007. Do you think there is a strong link between the weakening of the pound and the fall in demand for imports?
