British government bond yields were on course for their biggest one-week falls since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March after weak economic data prompted investors to temper their bets on further Bank of England interest rate rises.

Benchmark 10-year gilt yields were down about eight basis points in early trading on Thursday and touched a low of 4.386%, taking their fall for the week to 25 basis points.

Interest-rate sensitive two-year gilt yields hit their lowest since Aug. 11 at 4.898% and were also set for the biggest weekly drop since the failure of SVB spread worries about the broader banking system more than five months ago.

Investors sold other government bonds but the drop in gilt yields was more pronounced.

A monthly survey of businesses published on Wednesday suggested the economy in Britain was on course to shrink by 0.2% in the third quarter. There have been other signs of a slowdown.

Investors still believe the BoE will raise rates next month from 5.25% to 5.5% as it tackles an inflation rate running at more than three times its 2% target. But rate futures put a roughly 10% chance on a pause by the BoE on Sept. 21 and only a one-in-three chance of Bank Rate hitting 6% this year. (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by Andy Bruce)