Boris Johnson lays out COVID-19 plan

Daily Currency Update

GBP - British Pound

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, set out his winter COVID-19 relief plan on Tuesday, which ended up being far less intense than initially thought. The main point was encouraging those in the 12-15 age bracket to get a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Johnson set out a plan B, which included working from home and mandatory mask wearing, however gave no mention of a nationwide lockdown. Health Secretary, Javid, suggested that a full lockdown cannot be ruled out at this stage, however.

The pound didn’t react much to the news, as much of the plan had already been leaked and therefore currency movements happened in the days prior.

In other news, UK inflation data was posted on Wednesday morning and was the highest reading since March 2012. The year-on-year inflation figure climbed from 2% to 3.2%. This was largely attributed to the 2020 Eat Out to Help Out scheme implemented by the government. The pound received a slight boost from the data however GBP/USD remains fairly rangebound.