Pound Breaches USD1.50

The pound pushed through the USD1.50 mark for the first time since Jan 12th, hitting as high as USD1.5067, on ideas that the UK economy will shrink less than the U.S. and Europe this year.

Although figures just released show that retail sales fell in March, analysts are quick to point out that Easter fell early last year, boosting March 2008 figures.

A report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said yesterday that the slump in house prices eased in March. That might not seem like a particularly wonderful piece of news, but for a currency which was second only to the South African rand in 2008 as the worst performing major currency, even that is being seized upon as positive.

With the UK first off the block on quantitative easing, some are willing to bet that Britain may emerge in the lead out of the gloomy tunnel of recession. With Gordon Brown at the helm what could possibly go wrong?