Spending by consumers in Britain has finally begun to slow down, according to a report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today. The business organisation's distributive trades survey, which tracks retail sales volumes, fell to two in February from seven in January. Strong consumer spending growth helped the UK economy to expand by 1.7pc last year. "This survey suggests that the modest revival in January was a blip. The strong sales growth of 2002 has disappeared and the underlying trend is now for little, if any, year-on-year growth," said Alastair Eperon, chairman of the CBI's Distributive Trades Panel and a director of Boots. The three month rolling average, which shows the underlying trend for retail sales growth, was the lowest since March 1999 and retailers are less optimistic about the overall business situation for the next six months than at any time since November 2000. The Bank of England cut interest rates last month in what it said was a "pre-emptive" move, but analysts say the 0.25pc reduction to 3.75pc was not the beginning of an aggressive rate cutting cycle by the bank. ///www.fxcentre.com