Sterling weakened to five-month lows against both the euro and dollar yesterday, as coronavirus fears took hold. The dollar dominated the market due to its safe haven status. The pound looks to be making some recovery this morning, however, as the markets begin to stabilise.
Although Donald Trump’s flight ban exempts the UK, this move was seen as a sign of an escalating crisis, causing the pound to weaken. This also happened in parallel with the FTSE 100 index falling by more than 9% and the stock market experiencing its worst day since 1987.
The Prime Minister chaired an emergency Cobra meeting yesterday and agreed to move the coronavirus response from ‘containment’ to the ‘delay’ phase. Johnson held a press conference yesterday, in which he announced that schools wouldn’t be closed, but anyone with a persistent cough or fever would be told to self-isolate from today.
