The ongoing fallout from the coronavirus outbreak has seen the pound collapse to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985.
It's the seventh day in a row of falls for the pound, which started ahead of new Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget when the Bank of England slashed interest rates to just 0.25% last Wednesday.
That represents the the longest run of declines in more than a year, seeing sterling hit an intraday low of $1.1875 - its worst exchange rate since 1985.
Jeremy Thomson Cook, chief economist at currency firm Equals, said: “Sterling has continued to fall with traders and investors increasingly looking elsewhere for a port in the storm and deciding that GBP does not offer them sanctuary."
He added: "There are a number of reasons why sterling is not favoured at the moment – an economy that was weak to begin with, a thin layer of political goodwill that has evaporated during the government’s handling of the initial stages of the Covid-19 threat, a huge current account deficit hurt by a lack of international investment and last but not least, Brexit.
“Nobody knows which economy will weather this crisis better than others but bets against sterling show that markets think that we are running this race with our legs tied together and with a bag over our heads.
“The joined up thinking from the Bank of England and Treasury is welcome but, until the support starts being paid into businesses accounts, it’s a case of actions speaking louder than words.”
