British Pound plunges to multi-year low  
23 Jan 09, 10:59am

The British Pound plunged again on Tuesday against major world currencies as the U.K.'s second bank bailout in three months failed to calm the struggling financial sector.

On Tuesday British Pound plunged 4.5% against Japanese Yen, 3.7% against Euro and 3.6% against US Dollar.

British pound has lost half of its value against Japanese Yen in last 18 months (-49.38%). That means to exchange with 1 lakh Yen now £806 needed compared to £408 eighteen months back.

Similarly value of Pound have dropped 33.59% against US Dollar in last 6 months. Now £724 required to get $1000 compared to £480 six months back.

This change reflected in Rupee valuations also as Pound dropped 15.4% against Rupee when US Dollar appreciated 27% in last few months.

Global financial crisis has affected Britain very badly, especially financial institutions are struggling to cope up with the new situation.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, a Bank with 287 years of history and 1,41,000 employees, reported a net loss of $41.3 billion (2,02,370 crore rupees) in last one year. RBS's nearly two-thirds of its market value wiped out after the announcement of this huge loss.

British Government so far injected $53.48 billion (2,62,052 crore rupees) in major banks to avoid a total collapse of the financial system.

The British government on Tuesday said it will be increasing its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland to 70 percent from 58 percent by converting preference shares into ordinary shares.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's popularity plunges as economic crisis spreading to more areas. An Ipsos-Mori survey showed today the opposition Conservative Party 14 points ahead of the ruling Labour Party.