The spectre of a triple-dip recession is hanging over the UK economy ahead of official figures that will show whether the country has avoided another quarter of shrinking output.
Economists fear it will be a close-run result this morning, amid mounting warnings over the strength of the recovery and following last week's latest downgrade to the UK's AAA credit rating.
Most experts are predicting the initial estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) from the Office for National Statistics will show growth of 0.1% in the first three months of the year, which would mean the economy narrowly avoided its third recession since 2008.
But a volatile start to 2013 following snowstorms in January and March and ongoing pressure in the construction sector have left it hanging in the balance.
Facing mounting pressure to do more to help the recovery, Chancellor George Osborne beefed up his flagship Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) on Wednesday to help cash-starved businesses and spur on growth.
Banks are being offered an up to 10-fold increase in the cheap funding they can access in return for extending loans to smaller firms under the FLS revamp.
It is also to be opened up to non-bank lenders such as invoice finance houses and leasing firms that provide around £20bn of working capital to small businesses, and will be extended for a year to January 2015.
Fitch became the second ratings agency to strip Britain of its prized AAA rating on Friday, citing a weaker economic outlook and worse-than-expected progress on cutting debt levels.
The decision came after a brutal assessment of Britain's economic prospects by incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who branded the UK a "crisis economy" alongside stricken eurozone countries and Japan.
Mr Osborne was offered some respite earlier this week when figures revealed that underlying public borrowing fell in the last financial year to £120.6bn - but it was just £300m lower than a year earlier in the latest sign that his austerity plans are stalling.
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