Sterling falls on rating agency warning
By politics.co.uk staff
Sterling has plunged to a new low against the dollar and the euro after Fitch ratings agency delivered a harsh verdict on the state of the British economy.
As if to highlight George Osborne’s argument on a day in which he effectively started a crowd-sourcing exercise towards the emergency Budget, the ratings agency described the challenges facing the UK as “formidable”.
“The scale of the UK’s fiscal challenge is formidable and warrants a strong medium term consolidation strategy – including a faster pace of deficit reduction than set out in the April 2010 Budget,” the agency said.
The comments came on the same day as the IMF warned European states needed to adopt quick and firm actions to counter their deficits.
The Fitch warning saw sterling fall over half a per cent against the dollar, hitting a session low of $1.4382.
