The pound has risen to its highest overall level since the Brexit referendum over a decade ago, the BBC reported. The most-watched measure of the value of the British currency against a basket of 18 of the world's main currencies this week reached its joint highest level since the June 2016 referendum, according to Bank of England figures.

Source: BBC News (via Archynewsy)

The value reached 86.4 on an index where 100 equals the value in 2005, the BBC said. The Bank of England will officially confirm the calculation on Thursday — the same day its nine-member Monetary Policy Committee announces its interest-rate decision.

Source: BBC News (via El-Balad)

Sterling kept edging higher into decision day itself: the pound was up 0.13 percent against the dollar at $1.3495 at 0415 GMT on Thursday, while it was 0.16 percent lower against the euro at €1.1979, according to figures reported with the BBC-based coverage. On Wednesday, sterling had been up 0.28 percent against the dollar at $1.3434 and flat against the euro at €1.1996, the BBC reported.

Source: BBC-based market figures (via El-Balad)

Seen "in a different light"

The BBC cited traders saying Britain was being seen "in a different light" given relative political stability, solid growth and a rapprochement with the European Union. Jim O'Neill, the economist and former Treasury minister, told the broadcaster: "I'm not surprised. People were, and to a lesser extent, are, underestimating the improving momentum in the UK." UK growth this year has outperformed all forecasts, the BBC reported, though higher energy and fuel prices have begun to hit consumer confidence. A stronger pound can help rein in inflation and boost buying power for imports and holidays.

Source: BBC News (via Archynewsy)

The pound's milestone lands on the morning of the decision this desk previewed on Monday: the Bank of England is expected to raise rates to 4.0 percent, its first hike since August 2023. Read: Bank of England poised to raise rates to 4.0% on Thursday

Decision day: a hike expected at noon

Most analysts expect the Bank of England to raise Bank Rate from 3.75 percent to 4 percent on Thursday — the first increase in more than three years — with the decision announced at 1200 GMT and Governor Andrew Bailey's press conference at 1230 GMT. A Reuters poll before the meeting pointed to a 7-2 vote in favour of a hike. Because the Bank Rate guides mortgage, loan and savings rates for millions, the decision reaches far beyond currency traders and into household cash flow — including the large Punjabi and Indian communities in Britain, whose mortgages and business loans reprice off the same rate. Yaani, in plain terms: the pound is at its strongest overall in more than ten years on the very morning borrowing is expected to get more expensive.

Source: BBC-based coverage; Awaaz Punjab BoE preview, Nov 2

What happens next

The Bank will officially confirm the sterling-index calculation on Thursday, alongside the rate decision. How long the pound's strength lasts now turns on the decision itself and on Bailey's signals about further hikes: markets have priced several more increases next year, and any pushback from the governor could take some air out of sterling's run — while a hike delivered with hawkish guidance could extend a rally that has already carried the currency back to levels last seen before the 2016 vote to leave the European Union.