Talking Points
- Sterling remains range bound as official figures give the Chancellor of the Exchequer a pre-Budget boost.
- Borrowing falls to the lowest level in nine years.
- See the DailyFX Economic Calendar and see what live coverage for key event risk impacting FX markets is scheduled for next week on the DailyFX Webinar Calendar.
Public sector net borrowing (ex banks) fell by GBP13.6 billion to GBP49.3 billion in the current financial y-t-d (April 2016 to January 2017), compared with the same period in the previous financial year; “the lowest year-to-date borrowing since the financial year-to-date ending January 2008,” according to the Office for National Statistics.
The latest UK accounts will give Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond a pre-Budget boost and will help him beat his target of reducing the UK Budget Deficit to GBP68.2 billion by the end of March. It will also give the Chancellor some fiscal flexibility at the upcoming Budget on March 8, ahead of potentially difficult and costly Brexit negotiations
The British Pound traded little changed post-data as traders turned their attention to Bank of England’s Mark Carney’s latest meeting with the Treasury Select Committee. Traders will also be closely watching the House of Lords where the next stage in passing Article 50 is expected to be voted on tonight.
Chart: GBPUSD 5-Minute Timeframe (February 21, 2017)
--- Written by Nick Cawley, Analyst
To contact Nick, email him at Nicholas.cawley@ig.com
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