There is a silver lining in the cloud of looming interest rate rises: sterling is doing well.
The pound currently buys $1.36, more than at any point since February.
Against the euro, your pound gets you nearly €1.16, a high last seen in March.
It means buying things priced in dollars or euros is slightly cheaper than before. People going on holidays to the US or a euro-using country will see their pound go further.
This week, we’ve been learning about who’s been a beneficiary of the Iran war, as the oil giant BP said profits doubled.
Today, high street bank NatWest seems to have benefited from the fallout: the prospect of higher interest rates is helping to boost its bottom line.
It says it expects more income and upped the difference between what it charges for loans and pays on deposits, which helped profits reach £2.03bn for the three months to March.
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