Aided by a strong services sector, Britain's economy expanded by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2007 compared with the last three months of 2006, official data showed April 25.
Analysts said the figures strengthened expectations that the Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would increase borrowing costs next month -- with another hike likely before the end of the year.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.8% during the three months to March 31, 2007 from the same quarter in the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said in an initial estimate.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
