YEREVAN, April 11. / ARKA /. The British pound has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar for nearly five years on weak UK industrial output figures and uncertainty over the outcome of the election, Vestofinance.ru reports citing news agencies.
Sterling fell as low as $1.4618 before recovering slightly in late trading. Earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said UK industrial output figures rose by just 0.1% in February from January.
The small increase was below analysts’ forecasts for a 0.3% gain. Oil and gas production fell sharply, while the construction sector contracted by 0.9% in February, compared with forecasts for a rise of 2%.
The figures suggest the economy has slowed down this year, after a strong showing of 2.8% growth in 2014.
Manufacturing output showed the best growth within the industrial output measure, with a gain of 0.4% in February, bouncing back from its drop of 0.6% in January.-0-
