Brexit: the British pound falls to its lowest levels since 1985 and shares plummet – BBC World

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption the British currency experienced its biggest drop in a single day as a result of Brexit.

The value of sterling has fallen dramatically as a result of the decision by the UK to leave the European Union, a political development that begins to have an impact on the world economy.

the stock market in New York also fell sharply in the first few minutes of opening on Friday, raising concerns about the global economic impact of the outcome of the British referendum. The Dow Jones index of the New York Stock Exchange opened with a fall of 2.8%.

Meanwhile, global attention has focused on the sharp decline of sterling throughout the day.

on Friday the British currency was quoted at US $ 1.3305, a fall of more than 10% against the dollar and its lowest price since 1985 , before registering a slight improvement.

its value against the euro also came to be reduced by 7%, but the British decision also affected the European common currency lost 3.3% against the dollar, its biggest drop since its inception.

the devaluation of the pound is also the largest ever recorded in a single day.

the Stock Exchange of London also opened lower as a result of the referendum, in which the option of leaving the EU imposed by 52% to 48%.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron increases uncertainty.

In the first minutes of trading, the FTSE 100 index fell more than 500 points before experiencing a slight improvement.

banks were hit hardest, with Barclays and RBS shares fell almost 30%.

As a whole, the London Stock Exchange fell more than 8% on opening, then stay around -4%.

In an effort to reassure the markets, without But the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, said market volatility was expected and said that British financial institutions were ready to intervene.

“We are prepared for this,” , Carney, who said the Treasury and the Bank of England had developed extensive contingency plans for the event said.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption the British decision to leave the European Union negatively impacted the pound and the euro.

According to the official local banks have over 600,000 million pounds in liquid assets and the Bank of England was ready to provide additional over 250,000 million pounds stabilize the currency.

“the Bank will not hesitate to take additional measures as necessary while markets adjust and the British economy continues,” promised too.

Moreover, the conditions under which UK trade with the EU and the rest of the world should be rethought .

the Director-General of the world Trade Organization (WTO), Brazilian Roberto Azevêdo, said Friday: “the British people have spoken WTO is willing to work with the UK and the EU and to provide them all possible assistance.”

the great falls. pound from second World War

• 1971: the” Nixon Shock “-the decision of US President to cancel direct international convertibility of the dollar to gold-causes a fall in the pound 3.4%
• November 1, 1978: the so-called “Winter of discontent” shakes investor confidence in the British economy and the pound depreciates by 4.3%
• 16 September 1992: the pound fell 4.29% after Britain was forced to leave the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, the so-called “black Wednesday”
• January 20, 2009: the financial crisis triggered by the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers cost the pound 3.9% of its value