Pound Rises 2nd Day Even as IMF Downgrades U.K. Growth Forecast
- European peers’ economic growth exceeds expectations: IMF
- U.K. growth data due on July 26 next clue for economic outlook
IMF Sees U.S. Fading as Growth Engine
The pound advanced for a second day versus the dollar as investors looked past the International Monetary Fund’s decision to downgrade the U.K.’s growth forecast for this year and focused their attention on the developments surrounding Brexit and the Bank of England’s monetary policy.
Sterling gained versus most of its Group-of-10 peers, approaching its highest level against the U.S. currency since September. The IMF revised down its 2017 growth forecast for the U.K. to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent in 2016, it said in an update of its World Economic Outlook, after predicting an increase to 2 percent in April. Britain’s growth performance contrasted with many of its European peers such as Germany, France and Spain where growth surpassed expectations, the IMF said.