Pound sterling jumps to 6-week high versus ringgit

Some Hindu temples and vegetarian cafes have refused the new five pound note featuring World War Two leader Winston Churchill.

KUALA LUMPUR: The pound sterling jumped to a six-week high against the ringgit on Friday on expectations that the Bank of England (BoE) would have to raise interest rates in coming months.

At 5pm, the pound was up 2.2% to the ringgit at 5.6705 from 5.5485 the previous day.

The BoE might need to hike interest rates in the coming months, according to the rate-setter who was previously most strongly in favour of keeping borrowing costs at their record low, Reuters reported.

The comments from Gertjan Vlieghe on Friday came a day after the BoE said a majority of its nine policymakers believed a rate hike in the coming months was likely, if inflation pressure continued to build in the economy.

The wire report also said the pound hit a 14-month high against the dollar on Friday and was heading for its best week in more than eight years on a trade-weighted basis.

Traders were stacking up bets on a near-term interest rate rise from BoE.

Sterling drew renewed focus from investors this week: on Thursday it enjoyed its biggest surge against the dollar since April after the Bank of England said it was likely to raise record-low interest rates in the coming months, Reuters reported.

The Bank of England's trade-weighted index, which measures sterling against a basket of currencies, was set for its best weekly showing since June 2009.