Home Daily Commentaries Boris Johnson to announce winter COVID-19 plan

Boris Johnson to announce winter COVID-19 plan

Daily Currency Update

GBP - British Pound


UK PM Boris Johnson is scheduled to announce his winter COVID-19 relief plan on Tuesday afternoon, which could be positive for the pound. He is expected to announce that over 50s are to be given a booster Pfizer jab, to fight off any further variants of the disease.

This is particularly important in cold months, as the NHS will also have the yearly winter flu to fight off. This could boost the British currency as it reduces the chances of another lockdown, provided the COVID-19 death rate remains low. This means the UK economy could continue to thrive into the new year, which is something investors will likely hope to take advantage of.

In further good news for the pound, UK employment is at levels not seen since pre-pandemic. There are still about 1m job vacancies in the UK, which is positive, as the furlough scheme ends at the end of September with roughly the same number of people being paid in some part by the government.

Key Movers

Markets were generally quite quiet on Monday, however the US dollar may receive a slight boost on Tuesday afternoon, as US CPI is expected to come in better than expected. It is projected at 0.4%, however last month it posted at 0.5% and 0.9% the month before.

Expected Ranges

  • GBP/USD: 1.3810 - 1.3950 ▲
  • GBP/EUR: 1.1620 - 1.1830 ▲
  • GBP/CAD: 1.7445 - 1.7640 ▲
  • GBP/AUD: 1.8805 - 1.9050 ▲