Pound drops to lowest level since 1985

FILE – In this Monday, Sept. 5, 2016 file photo, British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at a press conference held at the end of the G-20 summit in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. Since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May has said it again and again: Brexit means Brexit.Despite the mantra, it’s far from clear what a British exit from the bloc will look like. Almost three months after the vote, Britons and Europeans still don’t know when the departure will happen and how it will affect their work, travel, pocketbooks and prospects.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, file)

LONDON — The pound has dropped to a 31-year low as investors fret over the British government’s suggestion it will focus on controlling immigration in its talks to leave the European Union, ahead of retaining access to the bloc’s single market.

Investors have been selling the currency since a speech on Sunday by Prime Minister Theresa May, who said her government plans to start the process of leaving the EU by the end of March 2017.

The pound fell another 0.5 percent on Tuesday to $1.2760, its lowest point since 1985.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com, and City Index says foreign exchange traders are “spooked by May’s apparent sanguine attitude to leaving the single market, preferring to focus on immigration and U.K. sovereignty.”

Treasury chief Philip Hammond’s comments suggesting turbulence in the coming years compounded concerns. TVJ