UK Chancellor Sunak, BOE’s Bailey urge lenders to keep supporting the economy

In a joint letter to the Chief Executives of major banks, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Bank of England (BOE) Governor Andrew Bailey and the interim Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, Chris Woolard, urged banks to take all action necessary to ensure government credit measures help businesses, as cited by Reuters.

They wrote: "This will require a willingness to maintain and extend lending despite the uncertain economic conditions. We must ensure that firms whose business models were viable before this crisis remain viable once it is over."

GBP/USD reaction

Amid relentless US dollar selling across the board, the GBP/USD pair continues to benefit the most, now gaining 1.40% to trade at the highest level in five-day at 1.1946. The spot paid little heed to the UK inflation figures that came in on expected lines while markets digest the above comments from the UK policymakers.