Weakening pound 'costing pensioners 4 billion euros'

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Weakening pound 'costing pensioners 4 billion euros'

Wed 5th Nov 2008

The falling value of the pound has potentially lost pensioners living in Europe more than 4 billion euros (£3.2 billion) in the last two years, it has been claimed.

Currency specialist HiFX said that in the past 21 months, sterling has dropped by 20 per cent against the euro.

Furthermore, pensioners abroad can also lose an average of £300 a year in bank charges to transfer their income.

According to HiFX, more than a million retired Britons live overseas and claim their UK state pension.

Mark Bodega, director at HiFX, said that Britons living in Europe on a fixed sterling income are being "hit particularly hard" by the current economic climate.

Last week, HiFX warned of the "currency market tsunami" and added that the volatility affecting the value of sterling was still ongoing.

Senior currency strategist Bob Munro explained that stock market and commodity prices falls demonstrated "panic selling of assets" by such organisations as hedge funds with investors trying to redeem their investments before they dipped further in value.

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