France falls back into recession

15 May, 2013

Tom Arnold

The Pound has continued to struggle over the last few days, due to a variety of factors, some of which come to the fore this morning. Last month’s unemployment figures were much more negative than they have been for some months, and so the markets have been a little concerned that this morning’s release may well follow this trend and see another nail hammered into the coffin of George Osbourne’s economic policies. This is then followed an hour later by the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report. The pound is likely to continue to suffer as the governor of the bank will probably reveal that with inflation still above target, and interest rate moves not available as a weapon, that further QE is the only option left to the bank to try and stimulate the economy. So all in all, if you have a currency requirement that starts with Sterling then the forecast is about as good as the current English weather. The one possible shaft of sunlight may well come in the form of Eurozone GDP, also out this morning. The Eurozone is already in recession, but with recent flash GDP figures from both Germany and France coming in lower than expected, we could well see things slip even deeper, which could weaken the Euro and give at least you Euro buyers out there some hope. Whatever your requirement, please keep in close touch with your CI account manager to make sure you stay abreast of all of the markets movements.