Wednesday 24th January 2018
Today, Express.co.uk exclusively interviewed Parliament Street’s Director of Financial Services an the City of London, Tim Focas.
Mr. Focas was giving the reasons behind sterling climb in the financial markets, during the Davos summit.
The full article can be read here
Or alternatively you can read the relevant extract from the interview below:
” Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk Tim Focas, director of financial services at Libertarian think tank Parliament Street says that Spain and the Netherland’s choosing to adopt an economically pragmatic stance to Brexit, as opposed to the political approach taken by France and Germany, is a key factor behind Sterling’s climb.
He said: “But while currency markets are not taking kindly to the Dollar currently, inflows from corporate repatriation flows and rising interest rates should trigger a recovery against Sterling in the not too distant future.”
Mr Focas said that last year’s agreement – in principle – on the Brexit divorce settlement was clearly an important moment for the medium-term stability of Sterling against both the Dollar and the Euro.
The Bank of England’s move to raise interest rates also helped.
Mr Focas said: With the UK economy still seemingly robust, coupled with world fuel prices on the rise, the Bank could well act on rates again sooner than expected this year. Such developments, would see Sterling recover the majority of its post-referendum loss against the Dollar.”
On the question of where the Pound so settle against the Euro and the Dollar Mr Focas said:
“Around the 1.40 level is the Brexit vote threshold, and if the pound continues to strengthen against the dollar then this will have a positive knock-effect on other Sterling-based pairs. The Pound to Euro exchange rate, for example, could strengthen.
“However, a rising pound is not a bed of roses for those manufacturing exporters who, until now, have benefited from a weaker pound.
“To mitigate risks from a rising pound, we may start to see businesses adopt more sophisticated hedging techniques more familiar to those working in financial markets.” “
