LONDON: Britain aims to conclude negotiations to join the Trans-Pacific trade group by the end of 2022, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing International Trade Secretary Liz Truss.

“We will be able to have concluded negotiations by the end of next year,” Truss told the newspaper.

She argued that the deal would help Britain benefit from economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Britain received a green light in June to start the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership of 11 countries — Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile and Malaysia.

Truss told the FT she expects trade between the US and Britain could be liberalized if Washington rejoined the group. Former President Donald Trump pulled the US out of a forerunner of the trade pact in 2017.

“The US was one of the initial parties in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the new administration has not indicated they want to join it. But who knows what might happen in the future,” she said.

Business confidence

British business confidence jumped to its highest level in more than four years in August and a measure of pay growth was the strongest since 2018, a survey published by Lloyds Bank showed.

Adding to signs of a recovery in Britain’s economy from its coronavirus crash last year, Lloyds said its monthly business barometer rose by 6 percentage points to +36 percent, the highest since April 2017.

Optimism in the economy also rose by 6 percentage points after a dip in July, when many firms were facing staff shortages caused by the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus and strict self-isolation rules which have since been relaxed.

“Staff shortages remain a challenge but as the economy moves back toward pre-pandemic levels we can be optimistic that the momentum for business confidence and economic optimism can be sustained in the months ahead,” Lloyds economist Hann-Ju Ho said.

More than a third of companies predicted they would offer staff pay rises of at least 2 percent over the next 12 months and 17 percent anticipated 3 percent-plus wage growth, the highest since Lloyds began asking about salary increases in 2018.

The Bank of England is watching pay growth closely as it tries to work out how persistent a recent rise in inflation is likely to prove.

Lloyds said 44 percent of companies it surveyed expected to increase the prices they charge, the highest level since December 2017.

The survey was based on a poll of 1,200 firms conducted between Aug. 2 and Aug. 16.