The British pound soared above $1.40 on Friday for the first time in almost three years, propelled by a vaccination drive that has boosted economic recovery hopes.

Sterling breached the symbolic barrier for the first time since April 2018, reaching $1.4008.

“The markets are forward-looking and any softness in data during this lockdown is continuing to be shrugged off,” ThinkMarkets analyst Fawad Razaqzada told AFP after official UK figures on Friday showed slumping retail sales and soaring government borrowing.

The markets are forward-looking and any softness in data during this lockdown is continuing to be shrugged off- ThinkMarkets analyst Fawad Razaqzada

“Let’s not forget that the UK also avoided a ‘no deal’ Brexit at the end of last year, which is one of the key reasons... (for) $1.40, a level where it was trading around before that 2016 referendum” in favour of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

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