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Growing numbers of business leaders in the UK believe Brexit uncertainty will take longer to resolve than Boris Johnson pledged before the election, according to a Bank of England survey.

In a reflection of the challenges the government faces in striking a trade deal with the EU before the end of the year, Threadneedle Street said the date at which firms expected the issue to be clarified had been pushed further into the future.

According to the central bank’s decision maker panel, which surveys almost 3,000 chief financial officers from small, medium and large UK firms, as many as 42% said they thought the lack of clarity over Brexit their business face would not lift until at least 2021, up from 34% in November.

The findings come as factory output across the UK plunged in December at the fastest rate in almost seven-and-a-half years, according to a separate survey. Both Brexit uncertainty and a wider manufacturing downturn around the world weighed on businesses.

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