British retail sales rebound in May, public borrowing hits record high

Britain closed non-essential retailers to the public in late March and only a small number such as garden centres were able to reopen in May

British retail sales rebounded much more strongly than expected last month as the country gradually relaxed its coronavirus lockdown, but public borrowing hit a record high and debt passed 100% of economic output.

Official data showed sales volumes in May jumped by a record 12.0% after a historic 18.0% slump in April - a rise at the top end of economist forecasts in a Reuters poll but which still left sales 13.1% down on a year ago.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Thursday that the economy appeared to be on course to shrink less in the first half of