George Soros has warned that a British vote to leave the European Union could severely damage living standards and trigger a plunge in the British pound…..even bigger than on Black Wednesday nearly 24 years ago.
Writing in the Guardian the Billionaire currency trader said: “My 60 years of experience tells me the pound will plummet, along with your living standards. The only winners will be speculators”
He believes that sterling would “decline precipitously” leaving people poorer, if the Leave camp win Thursday’s vote.
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The BBC reports:
But Vote Leave said the UK would be more prosperous outside the EU.
“The EU is costly, bureaucratic and blind to the impact it has had on people’s wages and soaring energy bills,” said Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott, who accused Mr Soros of wanting to give more power to Brussels.
Mr Soros made a fortune betting against the pound on Black Wednesday in 1992, when Britain left the ERM, and said Brexit would cause even bigger disruption.
Mr Soros said in his article that leaving the EU would see sterling fall by at least 15%, and possibly more than 20%, to below $1.15 from its current level of around $1.46.
“The value of the pound would decline precipitously,” he writes. “It would also have an immediate and dramatic impact on financial markets, investment, prices and jobs.
“I would expect this devaluation to be bigger and also more disruptive than the 15% devaluation that occurred in September 1992, when I was fortunate enough to make a substantial profit for my hedge fund investors.
“British voters are now grossly underestimating the true costs of Brexit. Too many believe that a vote to leave the EU will have no effect on their personal financial position. This is wishful thinking.”
Justice secretary and Leave campaigner Michael Gove said Mr Soros had long been a strong supporter of deeper economic integration and had been wrong over the euro, believing it would be an “anchor of stability” for Europe.
“The truth is that economic forecasters like George Soros have got things wrong in the past,” he told Radio 4’s Today. “They were the people who argued that we should join the single currency. The single currency has brought misery to the continent.”
