The pound has hit $1.40 against the US dollar for the first time in almost three years, on expectations that the UK’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout will help the economy to rebound more quickly.
Sterling hit $1.4005 during early trading on Friday morning, a rise of 0.2% on the day, touching a level not reached since April 2018.
The UK currency has been rising against the dollar and the euro in recent days, despite official figures confirming that the UK economy experienced its biggest annual contraction in 300 years in 2020.
UK gross domestic product fell by 9.9% in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics, as the pandemic affected every sector of the economy.
Despite this, sterling is the best-performing currency among the G10 group of advanced economies this year, partly thanks to the speed of the UK’s vaccination programme.
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