LONDON (AFP) — The pound sank to 1.5269 dollars on Friday, which was the lowest point since August 2002, after official data showed the country's economy contracted by 0.5 percent in the third quarter.
The country had already shown flat performance in the second quarter with zero growth. However, the economy is not officially in recession unless it reports two quarters running of negative economic growth, or contraction.
"There's still no sign of any let up in the dollar's recent surge, especially in Europe where speculation is that further rate cuts will be seen from central banks before the year end is continuing to weigh on the likes of the pound and euro," said analyst Gary Thomson at CMC Markets.