UK's Hammond says will speak next week on Brexit deal for services

[February 27, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Philip Hammond will make a speech next week on how Britain will be able to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union that includes services as well as goods, he said on Tuesday.

Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond leaves 11 Downing Street in London, Britain, February 21,2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Any deal with the European Union would have to include services, Hammond said, given the sector's importance to Britain's economy. He said he did not accept the views of some that this would prove impossible.

"I don't believe that that is the case and next week I shall make a speech in which I shall set out our view of how it is possible to include services within such a trade deal," Hammond told lawmakers in parliament.

The services sector accounts for almost 80 percent of British economic output.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by William Schomberg)

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