LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s economy returned to growth in August when it expanded by a marginal 0.1% from July, official data showed on Thursday, offering some relief to finance minister Rachel Reeves as she prepares for her budget speech next month.

However, gross domestic product in July was revised to show a 0.1% fall from June having previously been estimated to have been unchanged, the Office for National Statistics said.

Britain’s economy is on course to have the second-fastest growth among the Group of Seven nations after the United States, the International Monetary Fund said this week.

But at 1.3% its annual pace of expansion is not enough to avoid the need for tax increases in Reeves’ budget.

Economists polled by Reuters before Thursday’s data release had forecast that GDP wo

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