The British pound crashed close to its lowest level in history against a basket of trade-weighted currencies this week, as investors continue to worry about the terms of the country’s planned exit from the European Union, Wall Street Journal reports.
The British currency reached a fresh 31-year low against the dollar and a new five-year low against the euro on Wednesday, September 5, before trading slightly higher against both currencies.
Its drop against the euro is more important for Britain, given over 40% of the country’s trade is with the European Union.
The pound has now lost around 45% of its value against the Bank of England’s trade-weighted index since peaking against that benchmark in 1981. Sterling has fallen by around 13% since the U.K’s June vote to leave the EU.
The pound has only been weaker against this widely watched index, which tracks back to 1975, on a handful of days. That was during the peak of the 2008-09 financial crisis.
