Traders of the British Pound were glad to see the UK currency reaching fresh one-year highs above 1.18 at the start of the week. On Monday, the single currency excelled to the highest rate since February 2020, following the several lockdowns in Europe. 

On the other hand, the UK is preparing to lift the lockdown and ease the measures against the coronavirus. “It’s a theme that keeps delivering. The UK remains on course to ease restrictions further in line with the government’s “Roadmap” at a time when lockdowns in Europe look set to widen and tighten before the worst is over. Sterling seasonals also turn positive in April,” strategists pointed out. 

At the time of writing, the GBP/EUR was trading at 1.1796, with experts expecting the price to remain for the coming weeks. Both economies have taken action on their monetary policies, with the Bank of England increasing British government bond yields, whereas the European Central Bank added quantitative easing bond purchases. “We therefore do not believe the year lows for EUR/GBP and the highs for GBP/USD have been seen. We stay short the former and stay long GBP/CHF.”

Moreover, the GBP/USD exchange rate was trading at 1.3910, following the reiteration of two major Swiss banks on the British Pound's near-term outlook. The UK currency was boosted due to the country’s vaccination programme, with 646,828 vaccine doses being administered on March 31st.