Quantcast
Menu
Save, make, understand money

Investing

Pound nears 12-month low after bank chief calls for more QE

Your Money
Written By:
Your Money
Posted:
Updated:
21/02/2013

The pound tumbled towards a year low yesterday against the dollar following revelations Sir Mervyn King voted for more quantitative easing (QE) this month.

The Bank of England governor’s vote in favour of more money printing shocked investors who had not been expecting more QE.

Sterling hit a low of $1.5282 after the minutes from the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were released, before recovering slightly to sit at $1.5300 by early afternoon,

This marked the lowest point since June last year, with sterling close to its 52-week low of $1.5269.

After moving into 2013 in a position of relative strength, at above $1.63 against the dollar, the pound has seen a sharp decline so far this year.

That fall was increased by almost 1% today after the revelation that King and two other MPC members voted for more quantitative easing at the Bank of England’s February meeting.

The outgoing governor – alongside Paul Fisher and David Miles – voted to increase quantitative easing by a further £25bn, splitting the MPC 6-3.