£60bn flies out of UK in one month amid Brexit fears
IT'S the fastest rate since the financial crisis in 2009 and Osborne predicts worse to come if UK votes to Leave
CITY jitters about a potential Brexit were laid bare tonight as figures showed billions of pounds have been shifted out of the UK in recent months.
More than £65billion either left Britain or was converted from sterling into foreign currencies in March and April, according to Bank of England statistics - the fastest rate since the financial crisis in 2009.
A massive £59billion of that was in March, the second-biggest single month fall since records began and the equivalent of £1.3 million a minute for the month.
The movements are a sign investors are insuring themselves against potential losses if the UK leaves the EU on June 23.
Simon Ward, chief economist for Henderson Global Investors, told Sky News: “Investors are obviously concerned that in the event of a Brexit, the economic outlook will be very uncertain - investors dislike uncertainty - so they want to reduce their exposure to the UK equity and bond markets to reduce that risk.”
Pro-EU Chancellor George Osborne seized on the figures as evidence Britain’s economy will be hit under a Brexit vote.
He said: “If we vote to Leave, what we are seeing now is just a taste of things to come.
“Financial markets are telling us what all the evidence shows: that Britain will be permanently poorer if we vote to leave the EU and the single market.
“There will be less investment in Britain and that means fewer jobs and lower living standards.”
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The monthly figures are volatile, but in the last six months the total figure for “external and foreign currency flows” amounted to more than £76.5 billion.