LONDON: Sterling gained against the dollar and the euro on Monday, ignoring political noise stemming from allegations against Britain’s Conservative government as positioning data showed investors still bullish on the currency.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a stream of newspaper allegations about everything from his muddled initial handling of the COVID-19 crisis to questions over who financed the redecoration of his official apartment.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has denied a report that Johnson said he would rather bodies piled “high in their thousands” than order a third social and economic lockdown to stem coronavirus infections.
Asked last month about the refurbishment plans, Johnson’s spokeswoman said all donations, gifts and benefits were properly declared, and that no party funds were being used to pay for the refurbishment.
Bets on an economic rebound have fuelled sterling’s rise against the dollar and euro this year as Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination programme outpaced its peers. The country is emerging from a third national lockdown, and is preparing for the second phase of lifting restrictions.
The pound gained against the dollar for a second week on Friday, helped by better than expected economic data that indicated Britain’s economy may be rebounding from its worst annual contraction in 300 years.
By 1452 GMT, sterling was 0.15% higher on Monday at $1.3901, off last week’s top of $1.4009. Against the euro it was 0.2% higher at 86.92 pence.
Comments
Comments are closed.