Pound steady after Healey's 'continuity budget'
EWU•The pound was mostly steady after John Healey's budget, which included tax increases and measures to ease rising energy bills and had minimal impact on UK markets. Sterling was flat at $1.3325, while the fiscal headroom estimate fell to £15 billion from £24 billion.
1. Sterling little changed
The pound held mostly steady on Thursday, a day after finance minister John Healey presented a cautious set of tax and spending plans. Sterling was flat at $1.3325 and had gained 0.52% against the dollar during October.
2. Budget and rate outlook
Healey said he would raise taxes on banks, gambling, savers and landlords, tighten value-added tax rules for online marketplaces, and introduce measures to ease rising energy bills. The budget reduced the buffer for meeting the government's main fiscal target to £15 billion from a previous estimate of £24 billion. It did little to change market expectations for the Bank of England, with traders fully pricing in a rate increase on November 5 and a second by February.
