Hammond Says He’s ‘Very Happy’ With Where Pound Is at the Moment

by Dramelin 6:00 AM 0 comments

"We’re very happy with where the currency is at the moment," Hammond tells Bloomberg in Davos.
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The strengthening pound is just fine with U.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.
“We’re very happy with where the currency is at the moment,” Hammond said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Davos, Switzerland Thursday.
Sterling climbed the most since April this week as hopes for a soft Brexit and stronger-than-forecast labor-market data bolstered the currency against a weaker dollar.
It’s rare for British finance chiefs to offer their opinions on exchange rates.
The stronger pound could boost the U.
economy by helping to bring down inflation, which has raced ahead of wage growth since the Brexit referendum in 2016.
“Getting that inflation rate down -- and a rising pound helps to do that -- helps to drive increases in real wages, and that’s good for our economy and good for our society,” Hammond said.
Hammond spoke after comments by U.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin defending the weaker dollar as good for American trade sent the greenback tumbling.
Asked whether there’s a resurgence in currency wars, Hammond replied “I hope not” and said Mnuchin is “obviously right that the softness of the dollar is helping U.
manufacturers, reassert their position.
” “To the extent that that helps to answer some of the questions in the U.
about the global trading system, make Americans feel that the system is fairer to them and ease some of the pressure around the trade system, then I think that’s a good thing for all of us,” Hammond said.