The New Zealand dollar slumped the most this year against the U.S. currency after central bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said the monetary authority is prepared to step in to prevent it from strengthening. The pound tumbled to a 15-month low against the euro after minutes from this month’s Bank of England meeting showed more Monetary Policy Committee members voted to boost bond purchases to help bolster the economy. The so-called kiwi fell against all of its 16 major peers tracked by Bloomberg. New Zealand is the latest in a string of countries from South Korea to Brazil warning their currencies are too strong even as Group of 20 nations pledge to refrain from competitive devaluation. “It’s interesting that the RBNZ have upped the rhetoric around the potential for intervention,� said Geoff Kendrick, head of European currency strategy at Nomura International Plc in London. “This is the first time Wheeler has laid his cards on the table and talked the currency down.� The kiwi fell 1.3 percent to 83.62 U.S. cents at 7:07 a.m. in New York, after declining to 83.57, the least since Feb. 12. It was on track for its biggest one-day fall versus the U.S. currency since Dec. 21, when it dropped as much as 1.4 percent. “When the New Zealand dollar is coming under upward pressure, we want investors to know that the kiwi is not a one- way bet,� Wheeler said in a speech to manufacturers and exporters in Auckland. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and Paul Fisher joined David Miles in voting to increase the target for bond purchases by 25 billion pounds ($38.3 billion) to 400 billion pounds, though they were outvoted by the remaining six members of the Monetary Policy Committee. The pound slumped 0.8 percent to 87.46 pence per euro and reached 87.65 pence, the weakest level since October 2011. Sterling fell 0.8 percent to $1.5301, after sliding to $1.5295, the lowest since June 1. The kiwi has gained 2 percent this year according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed- market currencies. The pound fell 5.6 percent, while the dollar rose 0.1 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Neal Armstrong in London at narmstrong8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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