Economic data is providing support for the UK pound. Not only is the budget deficit in the United Kingdom narrowing, but the news out of the United States has been helping a bit. With all of the improved information, the UK pound is getting a bit of a boost today.
The United Kingdom’s government statistics office said that the budget deficit shrank in September. The budget deficit narrowed from 12.5 billion pounds a year earlier to 11.1 billion pounds. The numbers don’t include temporary support for banks, but they are still encouraging. On top of that, it appears that the British economy grew 0.8 percent during the third quarter of 2013, following an expansion of 0.7 percent in the second quarter.
All of this means that the UK economy seems to be regaining its footing, and that is supporting the UK pound on the Forex market. However, officials warn that the economy is far from recovered. Bank of England policymakers continue to warn that they might need to keep monetary policy somewhat accommodative for now.
Also helping the pound is the general risk appetite that followed the latest US economic data.
At 16:22 GMT GBP/USD is up to 1.6227 from the open at 1.6147. EUR/GBP is up to 0.8490 from the open at 0.8472. GBP/JPY is up to 159.3010 from the open at 158.5350.
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