Sterling will weaken if Britain fails to ask for Brexit transition extension
Sterling will lose recent gains against the dollar and weaken further if the UK does not ask for an extension of its Brexit transition period, according to a Reuters survey.
The pound has strengthened this week, trading at a one-month high of $1.26 yesterday as the UK suggested it may compromise on some contentious issues to reach a final Brexit deal.
Talks between the EU and the UK have stalled but there are hopes a compromise can be reached.
The Brexit transition period, during which the UK remains part of the EU single market and customs union, finishes at the end of this year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has until the end of June to ask for an extension and has repeatedly ruled this out.
All but two of 23 respondents in the poll said sterling would weaken in early July if there is no extension.
“The fading prospect of an extension to the post-Brexit transition period, and the risk of supply chain disruption at the start of 2021, casts a cloud over (Britain’s) GBP outlook,” said James Smith at ING.
“Brexit is back in the spotlight. There’s little to suggest we should expect any real progress, and that’s one reason why we’ve seen some risk premium creep back into the pound.”
The pound is expected to have weakened to $1.23 by the end of June, according to the wider Reuters poll of over 50 foreign strategists taken this week.
Reuters polls of economists have repeatedly said the two sides would eventually thrash out a free trade deal and the pound was expected to have strengthened around 1.6 per cent to $1.28 in a year.
“Our central scenario still assumes that the UK will leave the EU in an orderly fashion, most likely on 31 December 2020 and with a free trade agreement being a crucial part of the new relationship,” said Roberto Cobo Garcia at BBVA.
“With the UK and the EU economies already paying a heavy toll from covid-19, officials on both sides have very few incentives to disrupt the current system even more and to add extra layers of uncertainty at such a critical time.”
The UK has suffered the highest death toll in Europe from covid-19 and a government-imposed lockdown to try and quell the spread of the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the economy. GDP is expected to contract 17.5 per cent this quarter.
Countries across Europe have also seen their economies crippled and the euro common currency will move little against the pound, the poll found. In one month a euro will get you 90 pence and in a year it will be worth 88p.