Forexpros – The pound was lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, following the release of higher-than-forecast public borrowing numbers and the minutes of the Bank of England’s March meeting.
GBP/USD pulled back from 1.5923, the pair’s highest since March 2, to hit 1.5848 during European afternoon trade, slipping 0.10%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5830, Tuesday’s low and resistance at 1.5965, the high of March 2.
The U.K. National Statistics Office said public sector net borrowing increased to a record GBP12.9 billion in February, against expectations for a deficit of GBP5.2 billion.
However, the report showed that the government remains on track to undershoot its borrowing target of GBP127 billion this fiscal year, with borrowing so far in the 2011-2012 fiscal year totaling GBP109.95 billion, down from GBP118.89 billion in the last fiscal year.
Elsewhere, the minutes of the BoE’s March policy meeting showed that officials were concerned over higher oil prices and wage price inflation.
Two policymakers voted for additional easing but the bank left the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at GBP325 billion.
The pound remained somewhat supported as U.K. Chancellor George Osborne was delivering his annual budget statement to parliament, amid speculation that he would implement measures to shore up economic growth.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP easing up 0.10% to hit 0.8344.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to release industry data on existing home sales.
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