Britain's pound sterling fell more than 1% against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, extending its decline in foreign exchange markets ahead of key testimony from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.
The pound slid to as low as 1.2082 against the greenback, the lowest intraday level since the so-called 'flash crash' of Oct. 7 that saw the beleaguered currency fall more than 6% in less than two minutes of trading in Asia markets.
Carney is set to appear before a House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee hearing in London Tuesday to take questions on the economic impact of the country's decision to leave the European Union on June 23.
Traders and investors could be anticipating that Carney, who has been consistently vocal in his concern for the British economy in the wake of the Brexit vote, may indicate his intention to either add further monetary stimulus or allow for the overshooting of the bank's 2% inflation target as the impact of the pound's decline hits consumer prices.
A recent YouGov/Citigroup poll, published Monday, showed that British consumers are bracing for the biggest one-year jump in prices for at least a decade and now see October 2017 inflation at 2.5% compared to the 1.7% previously forecast for September 2017.
Britain's Office for National Statistics will publish its first estimate for third-quarter GDP Thursday, with analysts expecting growth to slow to around 0.3% from the 0.7% pace recorded in the three months ending in June.
