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.