Britain is to investigate recent sharp revisions to official data that have left many economists and even those responsible for setting British interest rates wondering what exactly is the state of the economy.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week revised GDP growth for the second quarter to twice the figure it originally gave, a number the Bank of England took into account when it cut interest rates in July to a 48-year low of 3.5 per cent.
The investigation will examine how much of the revisions to recent GDP, trade and manufacturing output data was down to errors on the part of the ONS.
A spokesman for ONS said the errors could be because the service is under pressure to get information out early.
A British government spokesman said an "authoritative figure" to head up a team to carry out the inquiry was being sought but could not say when it would begin or end.