The U.K. economy grew by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, higher than the 0.4 percent growth rate in the first three months of 2016. The economy continued to grow in the run-up to the Brexit vote.According to preliminary data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the U.K.'s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, as expected. The GDP on an annualized basis was also up 2.2 percent. In the first quarter of this year, the U.K. economy recorded GDP growth of 0.4 percent. In its second estimate, for the April-June period, the ONS said that there is very little anecdotal evidence at present to suggest that the U.K.'s June 23 vote to leave the EU has had an impact on the GDP in the second quarter of 2016.To fight the economic slowdown and recession risk after the Brexit vote, the Bank of England (BoE) cut its key rate to 0.25 percent from a previous record low of 0.5 percent and increased government bond purchases to 435 billion euros from 375 billion euros in late 2012.