Pound falls against Aussie dollar

The Australian dollar strengthened further against sterling yesterday, after figures revealed UK retail sales in February fell 1.9 percent. This was almost five times greater than what was forecast and only added to the economic gloom. With rising unemployment, falling house prices and continuing tight credit conditions it seems unlikely that the retail sector will improve over the short to medium term. Rumours have also now surfaced of a possible rift between the government and the BoE. Mervyn King, the BoE Governor, commented this week that there was little room for extra economic stimulus going forward. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, however, seems to be championing the cause of a coordinated economic stimulus going into the next G20 meeting.