The pound hit its lowest level against the dollar in almost seven years on concerns about a possible UK exit from the European Union. At one stage the pound was down as much as 2.4% at $1.4058, its lowest level since March 2009, before later recovering.
Bank of England interest rates have been left on hold at 0.5% for another month amid fears that the pace of recovery in the UK economy is slowing. The BoE base rate has been at its current level for more than five years, with economists not expecting an increase until next summer.
Britain has avoided falling into its third recession since the 2008 global financial crisis, after the economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.3% in the first quarter of 2013 compared with the final three months of last year, official data showed on Thursday.
The UK has rejected a call from European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso for a new continent-wide banking tax to help raise billions to ease the Euro zone debt crisis.
Six members of the Bank of England’s nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee, including Governor Mervyn King, continued to oppose the minority campaign for an immediate rise in benchmark UK interest rates at the MPC’s meeting two weeks ago, minutes revealed Wednesday.