Boris Johnson is settling in his duties as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but the national currency is not taking it very well. The British pound had been falling steadily ever since Johnson emerged as the leading candidate for the job and continued to drop after his confirmation to the post of PM.
As of early this morning, the GBP found itself at two-year lows, trading near 1.2152 versus the American dollar. It even yielded ground to the euro, dropping to 1.0912 against it. This is quite the impressive drop, considering the EUR is currently under a lot of pressure due to the expected softening of the ECB’s monetary policy.
Johnson’s new cabinet has announced that they will honor the October 31 deadline for leaving the EU and would not apply for any extensions. They are prepared to deliver Brexit, even if it means no deal. Previously, Theresa May was being pressured by the UK Parliament to exclude a no-deal scenario, but with a new PM all of the previous agreements are off the table.
To make matters worse, Johnson has also stated that he won’t even begin to negotiate with the EU unless the Irish backstop is removed from the agreement, something that his predecessor fought for and failed to secure after months of careful negotiation.
