Pound Sterling GBP News and Analysis
More EU, UK and US Imposed Sanctions on the Way
In light of alleged Russian war crimes in Bucha, the US, UK and EU have stepped up efforts to impose further sanctions on Russia. EU sanctions are likely to target Russian coal, banks, ships entering EU ports and road operators, with oil[4] related bans being discussed. UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss echoed the call for a “tough new wave” of sanctions from G7 and Nato ministers.
While the sanctions have been deemed necessary in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the impacts have hit the EU and UK particularly hard as both nations rely on Russia for their energy needs, particularly the EU. The EU is currently plagued with possibly being behind the curve when it comes to policy normalization at a time when GDP growth appears under threat; while the UK deals with the inflation-induced ‘cost-of-living’ crisis.
Euro Downside Risk Continues, UK and US Anticipate Hotter Inflation
Tomorrow we see the ECB monetary policy meeting accounts and retail sales data for February which is due to be much less than January’s figure but relatively strong. Next Tuesday we see the initial ZEW economic sentiment data for April while March’s figure turned sharply pessimistic at -38.7. Negative figures express a pessimistic economic outlook.
Sterling drivers appear to be picking up with the Feb GDP figure, unemployment numbers and crucial inflation data which will factor into the Bank of England’s decision to keep hiking rates. In the US, core and headline inflation data could influence the
