The GBP/USD pair strengthened significantly on Friday, rising from its lowest level in 35 years.
The British pound rose more than 1% against the US currency in early London deals to hit 1.1646, its highest level this month. Later, the British currency eased its gains and rose 0.80% for the last time to 1.1592.
As for the dynamics of the EUR/GBP pair, it was very restrained, demonstrating a decrease of only 0.21%, to the level of 0.8670.
The EUR/USD pair also grew by about 1% - to the highest levels in three weeks. Currencies such as the Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar also gained significantly against the US dollar.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss is trying to do everything possible to ease the energy shock that the people of the United Kingdom are and will continue to face. Thus, the new government has already announced a plan to freeze tariffs for electricity and gas for the population for a period of two years. Household electricity bills are set to be kept at around £2,500.
In addition, there are also plans to launch a £40bn scheme to protect energy companies from liquidity shortages due to exorbitant gas prices.
At the same time, it should be recognized that any details of the work of this plan are still unknown to the public and, most importantly, to investors, in particular, the details of its financing. It is also completely unclear how Truss and members of her government will behave in the face of high inflation and a sharp slowdown in the economy.
The Truss package is likely to consist of government loans and could cost the UK around £150bn. Clearly, this kind of government "generosity" risks triggering a major wave of turmoil in the financial markets, where the pound is still hovering near its 1985 lows.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday further added to the uncertainty of the state of affairs in Britain. Republic electoral group chief executive Graham Smith said without hesitation earlier this year that the Queen is a monarchy for most people and her death would mean a serious threat to the future of this institution. Smith and his fellow anti-monarchists openly argue that the royal family has no place in modern democracy, that its maintenance is stunningly expensive.
So, royal officials report that the maintenance of the monarchy costs each Brit less than 1 pound (or $1.15) a year, but Republicans say that it's real cost to the country is about 350 million pounds a year.
Polls consistently show that the vast majority of Brits support the monarchy. At the same time, according to polls, this support is gradually decreasing, especially among the younger generation. Obviously, the new king of Great Britain, Charles, is not popular with young Brits. Moreover, many of them are completely supportive of the opinion that instead of Charles, the throne should go to his eldest son, Prince William.
The Bank of England, due to the death of the Queen, has postponed the decision on the interest rate until next week. This is the first time this has happened since the central bank became operationally independent 25 years ago.
In the United Kingdom, there is a global balance of power in power circles - a change of power in the government and a change of the monarch. All this is happening amid exorbitant inflation and a deepening energy crisis, rising Scottish recalcitrance and the clear consequences of Brexit. Given these moments, from now on it is impossible to deny the inevitability of tangible changes in the geopolitical future of the country.
