Article 50 topic unsettles Sterling exchange rates (Tom Holian)

Sterling has begun the week struggling against both the Euro and the US Dollar and other major currencies.

The topic of Brexit and Article 50 continues to dominate the headlines and the Pound’s drop could be attributed to fears that Nicola Sturgeon is preparing to call for another Scottish referendum after the trigger of Article 50.

There has been no official timescale but if we remember back to what happened when the Scottish referendum took place we saw a big loss in the value of Sterling just before the vote.

There are mixed signals coming from the British economy in terms of economic data but the Pound’s movement is mainly due to what is happening politically.

With next month’s Article 50 due to be announced we could see a very uncertain few weeks ahead for the Pound against all major currencies so in order to avoid the risk of what may happen during this time it may be worth looking at buying a forward contract which allows you to fix an exchange rate for a future date for a small deposit. This can be particularly useful if you’re in the process of making payments to Europe over the next few weeks.

With the French due to go to the polls next month interestingly last Wednesday we saw Marine Le Pen leading the latest opinion polls which caused Sterling vs Euro rates to hit their highest level to buy Euros during 2017 but the gains were short lived. The expectation is that she will go through the first round of voting due on 23rd April but will ultimately lose out when the main vote takes place on 7th May.

However, we have already seen what happened politically during 2016 with both Brexit and Trump so we could see a very different political landscape during this year.

If you have a currency transfer to make and would like to save money on exchange rates when buying currency compared to using your own bank then contact me directly for a free quote and I look forward to hearing from you.

Having worked in the foreign exchange industry since 2003 I am confident that not only can I help save you money but also help you with the timing of your transfer.

Email me directly Tom Holian [email protected]