Sterling surged against the euro on Friday as the European Central Bank pulled back from its policy of increasing interest rates and a key ECB policymaker unexpectedly quit his position. Juergen Stark will step down in a dispute over the ECB’s bond-buying programme, underpinning how divided key decision makers are over the best way to deal with the euro zone crisis. So far this morning, we have seen sterling briefly hit €1.17/£1 as sterling gains support but concerns over the UK’s recovery has kept the pound under pressure against the US dollar. This week in the UK, we have the results from the independent commission on banking today, unemployment figures on Wednesday and retail sales figures on Thursday. Some analysts expect unemployment claims to jump this month so call in now to ensure you don’t lose out.

In the euro zone, it is unlikely to be a quiet week in the region. The resignation of a key member of the ECB goes to show the level of disagreement at high levels over the best way to deal with the crisis. The week ahead sees a meeting of the region’s finance ministers on Thursday and a European parliamentary debate over the crisis on Wednesday which could add further dichotomy to the number of official views on the crisis. Get in touch now for a live exchange rate.

In the USA, there is important data released this week on both consumer and wholesale inflation. In addition, there are key gauges released in the form of the NFIB small business survey and the Empire State and Philadelphia Fed survey which will give an idea of the state of the economy. The US dollar has benefited from concern over the euro zone crisis so call in now for a live exchange rate.

Elsewhere, the Swiss franc continues to hover around the CHF1.20/ €1 mark after the Swiss National Bank last week announced that it would intervene to devalue its currency. Moves made last week saw the Swiss franc devalue by nearly 8% and sterling has gained even more, breaking above CHF1.40/£1. Get in touch now to avoid adverse market movements impacting your payments.

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