Pound comes under new pressure after Bank of England fails to raise rates

The Bank of England issued a statement in response the pound’s sharp fall on currency markets. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex/Shutterstock

Ministers have been struggling to prevent a full-scale loss of financial market confidence in its economic strategy after the Bank of England’s decision to rule out an emergency rise in interest rates prompted fresh selling of the pound.

Attempts by Threadneedle Street and the Treasury failed to repair the damage caused by Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last Friday, with sterling falling to a record low against the US dollar.