The British pound was off to a bad start of July, losing ground against major currencies and slipping more than 1% below $1.2, approaching its lowest point since the pandemic outbreak in March 2020. The sterling’s appeal dimmed as growing uneasiness about a looming recession pushed investors to safe-haven currencies, while uncertainty over the N. Ireland protocol and softening expectations about the scope of the Bank of England’s tightening outlook also harmed the pound. The BoE has raised rates five times since December, when it became the first major central bank to increase borrowing costs after the COVID-19 pandemic, but now traders have scaled back some rate hike bets, as recent weak economic data could be early signs that the tightening has begun to weigh down growth. Last session, the sterling closed six months of 2022 down 10%, its worst first-half performance since 2008.
Historically, the British Pound reached an all time high of 2.86 in December of 1957. British Pound - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on July of 2022.
The British Pound is expected to trade at 1.20 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 1.17 in 12 months time.