UK vaccine roll out puts pound back in demand amid hopes it will fuel a rapid economic recovery
Sterling hit $1.3985 – its highest level against the greenback since April 2018
The pound edged close to $1.40 and hit an 11-month high against the euro amid hopes that the roll out of Covid vaccines across the UK will fuel a rapid economic recovery.
Sterling touched $1.3985 – its highest level against the greenback since April 2018 – and €1.1571 as investors around the globe snapped up the currency.
The pound has been boosted by hopes the economy could be one of the fastest to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
Neil Jones, head of foreign exchange sales at Mizuho Bank, said the pound was in demand because the currency market was already looking at a ‘post-Covid world’.
Boris Johnson is planning a staged exit from England’s third lockdown, which began on January 5, and hopes to get the battered economy working again over the next five months.
Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets.com, said: ‘Sterling has been a coiled spring and is finally starting to reach its promise.’
Traders believe the pound will go higher and experts have predicted the currency could reach $1.45 this year – levels last seen before the Brexit referendum.