British pound falls lower against dollar, euro

The pound has fallen below $1.29 for the first time in almost a year on continuing worries Britain will leave the EU without a trade deal.

Sterling also hit a nine-month low against the euro, and was down against the yen and Swiss franc, BBC reported on Thursday.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney said last Friday the chances of a no-deal Brexit were "uncomfortably high". On Sunday, international trade secretary Liam Fox put the odds at "certainly not much more than 60-40".

The falls come despite a rise in UK interest rates, which usually pushes up the value of sterling.

Since the beginning of the month, the pound has fallen 1.7 per cent against the dollar and 0.8 per cent against the euro.

"Some are thinking in the market that the Bank of England raised rates in order to give them ammunition to cut them in the face of a no-deal," said Neil Jones, a foreign exchange expert at Mizuho Bank. "The next move by the central bank could be a cut rather than another hike."

Nomura strategist Jordan Rochester added: "We remain bearish on the pound in the short term until the Brexit mess is out the way... "

A cheaper pound makes imports - and anything bought by foreign exchange, such as holidays - more expensive. It also makes the UK a less attractive place to work for foreign nationals.

But it makes UK exports more competitive. In the first three months of the year, the UK exported a record 87 billion pounds in goods to the rest of the world, following a year in which they hit an all-time annual high of 338.9 billon pounds.

Investors are focusing on a critical meeting in October between Prime Minister Theresa May and EU leaders to try to thrash out the terms of Britain's withdrawal.

Without a deal, some economists believe the UK and its trading partners would suffer an economic downturn.

--IANS

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