Holidaymakers warned over tumbling pound

Daily Express, 03 Mar 2010

STERLING struggled again yesterday and continued fears over a potential hung parliament hampering Britain’s ability to tackle its debt mountain.

The pound fell slightly against the dollar to end the day at 1.49 and at 1.10 against the euro.

Sterling hit its lowest point for 10 months 1.478 against the dollar on Monday, when it fell more than four cents hitting holiday makers in the pocket. David Kerns dealing manager of currency specialist Moneycorp said: “The pound has taken a beating because of major concerns over the result of the coming election and the possibility of a hung parliament.

“These uncertainties are undermining an already weak economy and weighing most heavily on sterling. Those most likely to feel the pinch over the coming weeks are British expats living in Europe and Brits who are planning a European holiday over the Eastern Period.”

CMC Markets currency analyst Michael Hewson said “all bets are off” if a hung parliament emerged – with the chance4 that sterling could slide all the way back to near parity with the dollar and the 1.03 all-time low seen in February 1985.

He said: “Until the political parties come out and say this is what we are going to do to try to get the deficit down, investors are going to be running scared.

“The UK is treading through bogland at the moment. Nobody can take any steps whatsoever to assuage market fears.”