Sterling skids lower against dollar

Sterling skidded lower against the dollar on Monday, as the greenback reasserted itself as a safe haven for investors amid the coronavirus pandemic and Britain's economic outlook took another hit in the face of a credit ratings downgrade.
The pound rose nearly 7 percent against the dollar last week as measures to inject liquidity into markets by the US Federal Reserve and a $2 trillion stimulus bill passed by the U.S Congress cooled demand for the US currency as a safe haven.
Ratings agency Fitch cut Britain's sovereign debt rating on Friday, saying the country's debt levels would jump as the government ramped up its spending to offset the near shutdown of the economy in the face of the coronavirus.
Facing what some economists say could be Britain's deepest recession in a century after the government ordered many businesses to close to slow the spread of the virus, finance minister Rishi Sunak announced a string of stimulus measures to try to prevent a surge in unemployment.
Central to Sunak's plan is a commitment for the state to pay 80% of the wages of workers who are temporarily laid off.
The Bank of England, like other central banks around the world, has also jumped into action, expanding its bond-buying programme by a record 200 billion pounds and cutting its main interest rate to a record low 0.1%.
Fitch said the measures were necessary to cushion the economy but it now expected Britain's public debt, as a share of gross domestic product, would rise to 94% in 2020 and 98% in 2021, from 84.5% in 2019.
Doubts about Britain's future trading ties with the European Union posed a further risk, Fitch said.
By 0817 GMT, the pound was down 0.6% at $1.2360, off its highest levels since March 13. Against the euro, it was down 0.1% at 89.52 pence.