Euro falls to 19-month low against the pound

Fresh fears over the Greek economy sent the euro falling to a 19-month low against the pound today. Sterling hit a high of €1.2351 against the European single currency in morning trading, meaning one euro is worth 80.9p, the lowest amount since November 2008. This came as the cost of insuring five-year Greek debt against default jumped to a record high of 1085 basis points, from 934, meaning it would cost $1,085,000 to ensure $10m (£6.7m) of debt for five years. Greek debt has been under pressure following rating agency Moody's downgrade to junk status earlier this month. Yesterday's warning from George Soros, the billionaire financier, that Germany's fiscal policies were threatening the stability of the euro appeared to have added to the pressure on Athens. The euro was also hit by fresh economic data which showed that new industrial orders in the eurozone grew at a slower rate than forecast in April, rising 0.9% during the month after climbing 5.1% in March. Traders said that the pound was also continuing to benefit from the news yesterday that one member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee had voted to raise interest rates. If more MPC members adopt Andrew Sentance's hawkish stance , the cost of borrowing could rise sooner than expected. This helped to push the pound over the $1.50 mark against the dollar to $1.501, its highest level in six weeks. In other currency news today, the Indian government is about to announce its decision on what symbol will be used for the rupee. Five designs have been shortlisted.