Soros: Brexit Will Spark UK Currency Crisis, Economic Chaos
George Soros, the billionaire who earned fame by betting against the pound in 1992, said that a British vote on Thursday to leave the European Union would trigger a bigger and more disruptive sterling devaluation than the fall on Black Wednesday.
Soros used Quantum Fund in 1992 to bet successfully that sterling was overvalued against the Deutsche Mark, forcing then-Prime Minister John Major to pull the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros, in an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper, said that in the event of a British exit, or Brexit, the pound would fall by at least 15 percent, and possibly more than 20 percent, to below $1.15 from its current level of around $1.46.
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Soros used Quantum Fund in 1992 to bet successfully that sterling was overvalued against the Deutsche Mark, forcing then-Prime Minister John Major to pull the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
Soros, in an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper, said that in the event of a British exit, or Brexit, the pound would fall by at least 15 percent, and possibly more than 20 percent, to below $1.15 from its current level of around $1.46.
Read More
The BOJ cut its inflation forecasts in a quarterly review of its projections, and once again pushed back by six months the timing for hitting its 2 percent price target, saying it may not happen until March 2018 at the latest.
It said the number of bond defaults in the year to date period has already exceeded the total for all of 2015, with more than 20 bonds in default after more than 10 issuers missed their interest or principal payments.
Venezuela is “highly unlikely” to have enough hard currency to fully make its debt payments this year, although a default isn’t inevitable, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service.
Oil Markets Are Balanced But Bracing For Brexit
This week’s key data from the oil and gas industry shows that fears of a Brexit continue to weigh on oil, as the dollar strengthens due to market uncertainty. We also see the rig count continue to climb, although still at a relatively slow rate. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Chart of the Week • The Bakken in North Dakota saw natural gas production explode over the past decade, and because of inadequate pipeline and processing infrastructure, natural gas flaring also surged . • But since the collapse of oil prices two years ago, flaring has fallen substantially, both in percentage terms and on an absolute basis. • As of March 2016, the industry flared 10 percent of the natural gas produced in the U.S., down by about one third from early 2014 levels. Much of that has to do with the sharp decline in drilling. • But […]
