// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
UK economy grew 0.1% in August ahead of Healey's first Budget
The UK's economy grew slightly in August, according to the last set of official figures before John Healey's Budget.
With the chancellor planning to set out his tax and spending plans later this month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy expanded by 0.1%, which was better than analysts had expected.
The small increase follows growth of 0.4% in July, as well as positive upgrades to the outlook for Britain's economy from global watchdog the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But Healey still faces a challenge to to deliver a balanced Budget without turning to more borrowing.
Britain's economy was boosted in August by an increase in production, which includes manufacturing, oil and gas extraction and energy supply.
The services industry, which makes up the largest chunk of the UK's economy, was flat during the month, while the construction sector contracted.
Over the three months to August, the UK's economy grew by 0.7% overall. ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said computer programming had been the biggest contributor to what she described as "robust" growth over the period.
But she said the production and construction sectors shrank over the three-month period.
As well as August's growth figure being stronger than expected, an earlier estimate for June's monthly growth was revised up from 0.3% to 0.4%.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said Britain's economy was "more robust than we thought".