The pound maintained yesterday’s loss versus the dollar after Bank of England policy maker David Miles said attempts to slow inflation too quickly risk stalling the economic recovery. Britain’s currency was little changed against the euro. While price gains are likely to be well above the bank’s 2 percent target through most of next year, they’re being driven by temporary items such as higher energy costs, a weaker pound and a rise in sales tax, Miles said in a speech late yesterday at the London School of Economics. Bank of England officials said this month that the weakness in the U.K. economy may persist “for longer than previously thought” as they kept the key interest rate at 0.5 percent. The pound was little changed at $1.6323 at 7:23 a.m. in London. It reached $1.6439 yesterday, the most since June 14. Britain’s currency was 0.1 percent stronger against the euro at 87.89 pence. It declined 0.3 percent to 127.0 yen. Retailers saying sales volumes increased from a year ago outnumbered those reporting declines by 2 percentage points in July, compared with minus 2 points in June, a report due today is forecast to show, according to the median estimate of 10 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The pound declined from a two-month high against the dollar yesterday after an index of U.K. factory orders fell more than estimated and manufacturers’ optimism plunged to the lowest in two years. Sterling has fallen 8.5 percent in the last 12 months, making it the second-worst performer among 10 developed-market currencies after the U.S. dollar, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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