ARCHIVED - UK pensioners in Spain hit by a 10 per cent drop in the pound-euro exchange rate

Sterling is currently trading at 1.08 euros on international money markets

Over the last month the value of the pound against the euro has dropped by around 10 per cent and already many of the UK nationals living in the Eurozone are feeling the pinch, as their monthly pension payments amount to substantially less in euros than they did at the start of the year.

On 24^th March the pound was trading at approximately 1.08 euros, having fallen from approximately 1.20 euros at the end of February. This continues what has been something of a roller-coaster ride over the last year, with the dip to 1.06 on 18^th March representing the lowest exchange rate since August 2019.

For the last four years the fluctuations in the value of sterling in Europe have been inextricably linked with the prolonged negotiations following the Brexit referendum in 2016, but now the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic is throwing the money markets into almost unprecedented areas of volatility. In the long term the macro-economic consequences for the UK could be as far-reaching as those of Brexit itself, but in the shorter term the difficulties faced by British pensioners living in the EU cannot be under-estimated, and many will be desperate for Boris Johnson’s coronavirus strategy to engender renewed confidence in the British economy as soon as possible.

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